Get all 12 Doug McKean releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Stars Have All Fallen from Your Sky, Wildfire Sun, Kissing Booth, Mutatis Mutandis, The Second Golden Age of Piracy, Between Gray and Silver, The Sprinkler Song, Dear Santa, and 4 more.
1. |
Heels Up
04:15
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If I send you a card and a fistful of roses
Or lay in your yard with a pocketful of posies
I know and you know
You've got me out on a limb
So cast aside all your inhibitions
Tonight we're going on intuition
It's the last time we've gone
On anything more than a whim
The days go by like dog years
The grass is growing under our feet
And I'm an open book that's dog-eared
Tattered and incomplete
And going in heels up
Make a wish upon a car
Toss your heart out at some corner bar
Spend your dollars
Just like they were paper
We'll cast our lines and we'll see what bites
We'll all be done in by our appetites
When everything that you clutch at
Turns to vapor
I spent my last dime on a carton of smoke
I've been wastin' my time startin' a joke
I've been spinning like a wheel
Ever since we spoke
You've got me going heels up
I will tempt the rapture
Until we cleave and fracture
I'll still ante up
On games of smoke and capture
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2. |
Down in Flames
03:25
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I just heard the news today
It went down like a bitter pill
You left us all in teardrops
Heirs to a living will
I'm not one for neverminds
You know I've grown to hate that word
Even so I'm sad to say
The thought did occur
You're burning up too much gas that way
You go down in flames
Sped through every turn you took
And you crashed harder than most
A patron saint of recklessness
Every day a bit more like a ghost
I'm not one for neverminds
And that's not what I'm trying to say
Even so, I'm standing helpless
Watching you go your way
You keep on running
But you know where I'm gonna be next time
Another night, another fuck or fight
And you're too far gone this time
Really got no reason not to leave it all behind
I'm not one for neverminds
And I'm not trying to play that game
Even so, you wanna go
Where no one knows your name
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3. |
I'm Counting on You
04:21
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I have climbed the highest mountain
I have swam across the sea
So I hope no one's been counting
On me
I have climbed the highest mountain
I have taken in the view
From this altitude I'm counting
On you
I've been longing for your bones
To lead me on my way back home
Where words have all failed
For the wind in my sails
I'm counting on you
I have climbed the highest mountain
Well, that's not exactly true
So beware what I'm recounting
To you
I have swam across a fountain
I have climbed into a tree
So I hope no one's been counting
On me
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4. |
Tune Me Out
05:05
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Give me an inch
I'll take a while
Give me a flinch
That was never your style
I'll take a hint
I'll take a mile
You're gonna tune me out
Like the static on your dial
From the back of my mind to the tip of your tongue
From the base of my spine to the top of your lungs
If I'm out of my mind or I'm under your thumb
Don't say a word, you're coming in loud and clear
Now I'm convinced
I can't stand the trials
So let's get lynched
And do it in style
Give me a pinch
Give me a smile
Or just tune me out
Like the static on your dial
Come and see me sometime
When all your troubles start to unwind
And I'm waving goodbye
Echoes of my gestures fill up the sky
I've let my guard down for weeks on end
Am I coming through this time?
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5. |
Around the World
03:14
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I'm gonna drink like a fish
In this town full of sharks
And I ain't gonna quit
Until I've made my mark
My lips were sealed and my senses were loaded
My eyes were peeled as the morning exploded
I'm gonna spend another night on the freeway
Running straight through town
Not another minute of leeway
For wishing I'd chased you down
Saw you once and I could not penetrate
Your eyes just mocked me
Two days later
There was nothing could've stopped me
From the Brooklyn Bridge to the Eiffel Tower
I'll take you around the world in an hour
In those empty corridors after closing time
I fell into you more the more your hands got close to mine
I've learned my lessons
Some of them painfully
But sitting around second guessing
I know it ain't for me
So kick off your shoes and put 'em in your pocket
Got nothing to lose so honey just drop it
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6. |
Cross-Eyed Soul
05:47
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You play it dumb, I'll play it dumber
Even dumber than you thought I could
I'll shut my mouth all goddamn summer
If you shut your mouth for good
Cross my fingers as I beg for mercy
Pull the trigger, you've been rehearsing
Your last breath
I was just a kid set down the trail
To be as dumb as I could be
Now I know that I'm bound to fail
It runs in my family
Cross my eyes and fix my focus
Cut all ties to hocus pocus
Present company
You've got a lot to learn
And in the meantime
You've got a lot to say
You're keeping me at arm's length away
You can believe every word you were ever told
And beat yourself in the breast
But sooner or later those thoughts get cold
And you think about heading west
Cross my heart and hope you're lying
Cause now ain't no time for crying
Crocodile tears
You've got a lot to learn
And in the meantime
You've got a lot to say
You're keeping me at arm's length away
What kind of fool's in your headlights
Darling you're just rules and redlights
You're keeping me at arm's length
But I'm still just a stone's throw away
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7. |
Lake Erie Lullaby
04:37
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The midwestern stars never shine so bright
As on nights that you spend on the mend
You've asked me for words that'll calm you tonight
Take you from your world without end
There are 3 words that I need you to say
"I apologize" and "touche"
And I'll hold you a light on this beach
Watch our future slip slowly out of reach
The sky above is dark with lust
And overripe with omens
You look overhead and you watch it combust
Feel the years come down as it opens
You can take cover under anything
I just need a song to sing
To put me to sleep in the rain
I can sleep through any kind of pain
There's an emptiness written on your face
As you search for constellations
And rhyme, reason, and order in space
They offer you no consolation
This time I can't tell it to look in your eye
I don't know if this is goodnight or goodbye
So I'll kiss you and wish you the best
Curl up and lay me down to rest
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8. |
Time Will Tell
04:33
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You call me up on the phone after hours
You're all alone, the drinks have all been devoured
Candied voice and eyes to match
Both seeking choices without strings attached
That's not enough for you is it now?
That's not enough for you, ringing my bell
That's not enough for you is it now?
That's not enough, only time time will tell
Read you to sleep just like a child
Your soul to keep, your heart yet to be defiled
Thoughts of good and evil wrestle in your dreams
When you awake, you'll know exactly what they mean
That's not enough for you is it now?
That's not enough for you, ringing my bell
That's not enough for you is it now?
That's not enough, only time time will tell
If I can hold my own or fall right off the deep end
Go it alone each and every weekend
Up and at you or better just to sleep in
Time to rise and shine
Oh darlin' that ain't enough
Thought about what I'd say and how I'd say it
Thought about how it'd play, how you'd replay it
Memorized every inch of your face
And asked about steps that we couldn't retraceW
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9. |
Life in Blue
04:19
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We are the blessed
We are the cursed
We're at our best when we're at our worst
Pigeons stay all winter
Out on the roof
Wake you at all hours of the afternoon
You stand apart
You stand so far aloof
You feel no closer, no further from truth
And you want to move
But you're not sure where to
And the Lord has sentenced you
To life in blue
Thoughts turn away from smashed automobiles, neglected kimonos
Long enough to forget how it feels
Every time you say "oh no no no"
Fill the ditch up with rhyme
Find a niche in space and time
And stay right there like a museum piece paradigm
We are the blessed
We are the cursed
We're at our best when we're at our worst
Rats get wings, but they will not fly
They will not sing, no they will not try
And you speak your invisible language to the sky
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10. |
Dancin' All the Way Down
05:30
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Cut that rug from under your feet
Yeah, they'll pull that rug from underneath you
And you pay no mind
'Cause we're dancin' all the way down
Got no use for tendin' stitches
Yeah, got no need for makin' wishes
Just pay no mind
'Cause we're dancin' all the way down
I crawled right into bed
And remembered what my momma said
"Try to forget that the day ever happened"
I fell asleep and when I woke
They said my dreams were only jokes
But they're the only things that keep my laughin'
Steerin' clear of crucifixion
On crosses made of 10 cent fiction
And you pay no mind
'Cause we're dancin' all the way down
Wrap your life in bows and ribbons
Yeah, give away the life you're given
Just pay no mind
'Cause we're dancin' all the way down
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Doug McKean Cleveland, Ohio
Catchy songs and biting lyrics with a variety of sounds ranging from punk to soul to folk.
New single 'The Stars Have All Fallen from Your Sky' out now!
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