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11 From Kevin: Songs Of Kevin Gordon

by Julie Christensen

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    2 discs of my covers of East Nashville songwriter Kevin Gordon's songs. One of the songs I chose to sing, "Down To The Well," has been recorded by Kevin (featuring Lucinda Williams) and by Hard Working Americans, among other artists.

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    "Nearly 30 years after his first album, Gordon should be better known, as should Christensen, who was a staple in the Los Angeles punk and jazz scenes before her extraordinary collaborations with Leonard Cohen, and then a solo career. But these things happen. Now comes a record that adroitly fuses Christensen’s exploratory vocals with Gordon’s vividly drawn emotional and physical landscapes. The result brings out the best in both of them, especially in the way Christensen unearths veins of gold that were hiding in plain sight..." - Amos Perrine, NO DEPRESSION

    Includes unlimited streaming of 11 From Kevin: Songs Of Kevin Gordon via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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    edition of 400 

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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 13 Julie Christensen releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Price We Pay for Love, 11 From Kevin: Songs Of Kevin Gordon, Looking For Mercy, The Laughing Men (new audio), Breaking Open, The Music Time, Burning Star-Brother Remix, A Sad Clown, and 5 more. , and , .

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1.
Find My Way 04:00
Find My Way
(©Kevin Gordon, Little Rain Music BMI & Gwil Owen, Turgid Tunes admin Bluewater BMI)
 When the night comes creeping,
 And my family’s sleeping
I slip out and take a ride
 No destination, no woman waiting
 Just a rage inside my mind 
I’m feeling things I don’t understand
 Baby can you sympathize 
til I find my way
 baby til I find my way 

I think I’ll drive down to the river
 Stare out at the lights of town
 Sometimes a man will walk that bridge
 Just to lay his lonesome down
 I’m coming back home tonight 
I’m just taking the long way around
 til I find my way
baby, til I find my way

 There’s hawks on my fence, snakes in the grass
 Change is a burning, blurring line 
World’s got me crazy, can you tell me baby
 Why the cure’s always the compromise
 There’s what you want, and what you need
 What ties you down, what sets you free
 til I find my way 
baby, til I find my way
2.
Crowville 02:56
Crowville (©Kevin Gordon, Little Rain Music BMI) 
Red wing bird splits the sky
 Green grows wild on the highway side
 Just like they know you,
 Folks wave from the wheel
 Cars passing
 Crowville

 Out in the field, outside the wall
 Coyotes coming, hear ‘em call
 Running on hunger and free will
 Gone in the morning
 Crowville

 Little jambox blares from the ground 
Preacher’s voice like a tearing sound
 The Lord’s at hand and the devil’s on the kill
 Way down there
 Crowville

 Charles Ray, he’s long gone
 Ms. Martha carries on 
I hear us laughing with him still—
 Hand slaps the table
 Crowville
 Red wing bird splits the sky
 Green grows wild on the highway side
 Just like they know you,
 Folks wave from the wheel
 Cars passing
 Crowville
3.
Fire at the End of the World (©Kevin Gordon, Little Rain Music BMI) Me and Billy, seventeen
 Sitting in class, feeling bored and mean
 In came the teacher, said we had a guest 
 She introduced the sheriff, and put off the test 

 He talked about pot, how folks grew their own 
 Statistics were given, slides were shown 
 Pills, powders, LSD
 I found out what all that would do to me 
 Around here things stay pretty slow
 Hound dogs sleep in the middle of the road 
 Gotta shuck the oyster to find the pearl
 And I heard about a fire at the end of the world 
 Didn’t know what we were doing, but we were gonna get it done 
 Headed down Louisiana highway 1 
 Life’s a magazine; the pages start to curl 
 Down there by the fire at the end of the world 

 Drove straight south til the road met the water 
 Split a half a gram, & a hit of good blotter
 Every bit of evidence was gone 
 Sitting on the hood feeling it coming on 

 There it was, a gold flame in the black velvet sky
 Over the refinery so wild and high 
 That’s when a parish deputy appeared 
 Asked what we were doing down there 

 He stared at Billy, he stared at me
 I mumbled something about what we came to see 
I give the devil neither the credit or the blame 
 I was just down there looking for that flame 

Sometimes you just want things to tilt and shine—
 Change it up a little bit inside your mind. 
 You gotta shuck the oyster to find the pearl
 I heard about a fire at the end of the world 

4.
Joey & Clara (©Kevin Gordon, Little Rain Music BMI) Joey, Clara calls from the sidewalk dawn
 won’t you come out and run all day long I know where the berries hang heavy on a thick sticker bush Sweet as sugar way back in the woods Bring yourself a bucket and we’ll have some fun Back where the ghosts and the wild things run I got sandwiches and chewing gum Oh come now joey or you won’t get none Runnin’, Joey comes jumpin’ down the front porch stairs Clara like a woman with her hands on her hips “Took ya long enough” Over the Brambles underneath barbed wire Round the ashes of the old campfire Chandler’s fence took a piece of her dress Old tennis shoes in the dew turn wet Joey and clara, la la la la
5.
Gloryland 05:35
Gloryland (©Kevin Gordon, Little Rain Music BMI)
 You might be a preacher
 Broadcasting on a satellite 
Miss Mamie's looking for an answer
 Watches your program every night
 Diamonds shine from your praying hands
 She sends you all the money she has 
Just to feel a little closer
 A little closer to gloryland
 You might be the president
 Take a lot of power in your hands
 Bend the laws to your advantage
 Drive your armies to a foreign land
 You say your cause is just
 Lie only if you must
 Just to keep them believing
 They're on their way to gloryland

 People keep believing, people keep deceiving 
Am I my brother's keeper?
 Am I my brother's keeper?

 You might be a young man
 Out of work in a war-torn town
 Streets you walked as a smiling child
 Are blown to rubble, death and infidels all around
 You're drinking thirst, eating hunger
 Praying to the east, and the mullah
 Is the only one you can trust
 Who gives himself in sacrifice
 Passes the gate to paradise . . .
 You walk into the market, cool wind across your face
 Virgin visions in your head & a bomb strapped to your waist
 Because it's all waiting there, somewhere far from here
 It's all waiting there, out there somewhere
 In gloryland
6.
Heart’s Not in It (©Kevin Gordon, Little Rain Music BMI & Gwil Owen, Turgid Tunes admin Bluewater BMI)
 I've played this bar a hundred times
 Same four walls, same old lines
 The show goes on when they dim the lights
I play my part, but my heart's not in it tonight

 Play a couple of fast ones, then we take a break Somebody buys a round for old times' sake 
Guess she looks familiar, I try to be polite 
But it's hard, ‘cause my heart's not in it tonight

 Sometimes I get this feeling
 All I'm doing is spinning my wheels
 I just want to stop for a minute
 Just until my heart's back in it

 The crowd's all gone, but you're still here
 What you want is all too clear
 The line's so fine between wrong and right
 We could step right over, but my heart's not in it tonight 
{ Down to the Well (©Kevin Gordon, Little Rain Music BMI & Colin Linden, Colin Linden Music, Warner Chappell SOCAN)
 Mud-colored dogs guarding shotgun shacks
 A red door on a green Cadillac
 Hot wind blowing smoke through graveyard streets
 A face I recognize looking right through me

 Ain’t goin’ down to the well no more
 Believe I’ve had my fill I worked that ground til I done got sore
 Ain’t goin’ back down to the well 
 You played that dive twenty some-odd years
 With the faith and whiskey you killed your fear
 I remember the night you broke down to the core
 Threw that black Stratocaster through a plate-glass door

 Ain’t goin’ down to the well no more
 Believe I’ve had my fill I worked that ground til I done got sore
 Ain’t goin’ back down to the well

 See that woman in the corner, brother, she knows
 Every inch of my body, every mile of my soul
 We used to shake ‘em on down til the blazin’ day
 What’s she doin here tonight watching me that way

 Ain’t goin’ down to the well no more
 Believe I’ve had my fill I worked that ground til I done got sore
 Ain’t goin’ back down to the well
7.
Jimmy Reed is the King of Rock n’Roll (©Kevin Gordon, Little Rain Music BMI)
 Dark sunglasses, sharkskin suit, standing in the
 Broken glass of East Dubuque
 On a Sunday morning
 On a Sunday morning

 You ramble and you tamble, it’s a rotgut town 
Lose your mind til it can’t be found
 Now your head is burning 
And your heart is yearning

 Jimmy Reed is the king of rock n’roll
 Jimmy Reed is the king of rock n’roll

 Down to Ottumwa, layin’ up in that room
 Light bulb flickin’ its tongue at you
 And the hours passing
 And the hours passing

 Jimmy Reed is the king of rock n’roll
 Jimmy Reed is the king of rock n’roll

 Dark sunglasses , sharkskin suit, standing in the
 Broken glass of East Dubuque
 On a Sunday morning

 On a Sunday morning
8.
Gatling Gun 04:25

Gatling Gun (©Kevin Gordon, Little Rain Music BMI)
 If I had a rocket ship and a Gatling gun
 I’d fly all the way up to the sun 
Shoot it full of holes til I put out the light 
 Fall back to the ocean and call it a night 

 Gonna call John Henry help build me a railroad 
 Straight through the coal mines, pick up a big load 
 Dig a hole to China, ride it on down 
 Keep sinking low til I come out on higher ground 

I still see her there 
 How the river wind plays her hair 
 Gold in fallen light 
 Right by my side 

I could take a razor to my blank stare 
 Bleed out every memory of her in there 
 Toss my eyes like dice into the sky 
 But I’d come up empty, still asking why 

 I still see her there 
 How the river wind plays her hair
 Gold in fallen light 
 On the levee by my side 
 Giving me her time 
 The wild meadow of her mind 
 The bloom of her soft kiss 
 Why can’t it stay like this 
 And nothing less? 

 These days nothing stays the same 
 But my tongue remembers the shape of her name 
 Love is free and free to roam 
 But I can’t quit no matter how far away she goes I still see her there 
 How the river wind plays her hair
 Gold in fallen light 
 On the levee by my side 
 Giving me her time 
 The wild meadow of her mind 
 The bloom of her soft kiss 
 Why can’t it stay like this 
 And nothing less? 


9.
Following a Sign (©Kevin Gordon, Little Rain Music BMI) I stood up in church one Sunday prophesyin’ a storm to come I stood up in church one Sunday prophesyin’ a storm to come Monday morning lightnin’ stuck the doubters dumb When the preacher kicked me out Threw a thumb up for a ride $20 bill in my bible Watchin’ them cars just blow on by I keep holding on to the sweet divine Get there how I can Following a sign Meridian to Memphis, like a dog in the back of a truck Meridian to Memphis, ridin’ like a dog in the back of a truck Through a stranger’s kindness, saw St. Louis from a bus There’s tuna fish and crackers pocket knife in a calico skirt Blade it came out shinin’ when that boy tried to feel up under my shirt I keep holdin’ on to the sweet divine Get there how I can following a sign Ever since I can remember I’ve seen angels in the air Heard voices in the wind Grace is everywhere Chicago December South Cicero somewhere Chicago December South Cicero somewhere ask a lady in a doorway Is anybody sick in there She led me to a room Daughter lay shakin’ on the bed Sweat poured off my hands when I laid ‘em upon her head And I prayed like I pray In every town I’m driftin’ through She just brlinked three times and stood up well as me or you I keep holdin’ on to the sweet divine Get there how I can following a sign Chicago December South Cicero somewhere
10.
Goodnight Brownie Ford (©Kevin Gordon, Little Rain Music BMI)
 The old man’s face
 A map of scars
 Straw Stetson brim
 Half Comanche
 They called him Brownie
 For his Indian skin

 I met him once
 In a cafe
 In my hometown 
In a corner singing
 Black Jack David,
 Don’t Let the Deal Go Down
 We called him back for more
 Goodnight Brownie Ford

 Just a kid
 Breaking horses
 Working wild west shows
 Rope and leather
 Cards and money
 Learning fast how the old song goes

 Declared me dead twice, he said 
But I never was that far gone
 Yeah that saddle bronc dragged me to the gates of heaven 
I couldn’t stay down long
 Dying ain’t what living’s for
 I snuck out that hospital ward
 Goodnight Brownie Ford

 Played his guitar 
From here to far
 Woodsmoke and campfire songs
 Float up to the stars til the night is gone

 I remember talking to him
 More likely, he was talking to me--
 Saying “Don’t let ‘em mess with your music
 If you go to Tennessee”

 As the fire flared and died 
From his cigarette
 And he looked me in the eye to ask
 A riddle with his next breath--
 All the free advice I could afford
 Got in his car and closed the door
 Goodnight Brownie Ford
11.
Rest Your Head
(©Kevin Gordon, Little Rain Music BMI)
 Stars above the clouds tonight that I can’t see
 Pictures swirling up in my head say what you mean to me
 You're a thousand miles away
 You get tired this time of day
 That bad feeling ain’t all it seems
 Baby rest your weary head and dream

 Work is good but wants to steal away our time
 Hours and frustrations lead to nothing but
 Paper dollars and thin dimes
 It’s here and then it’s gone
 So we labor on
 Polished shoes and Listerine
 Baby rest your weary head and dream

 Rest a while
 Hear that laughing river flow
 When I find it I’ll follow it
 As far as it goes

 Cool wind in the shadow of a redwood tree
 I can’t see that bird but I’m a fool to think
 it’s singing just for me
 Whippoorwill or mockingbird, 
Lonesome song ain’t got no words
 But I think I know what it means
 Baby rest your weary head and dream

 Rest a while 
Hear that laughing river flow
 When I find it I’ll follow it
 As far as it goes

 And that bad feeling ain’t all it seems 
Baby rest your weary head and dream
 Baby rest your weary head
12.

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released January 21, 2022

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Julie Christensen Albuquerque, New Mexico

Julie Christensen’s story is woven into decades of Roots Music. A veteran of Leonard Cohen’s bands, she co-fronts post- punk rockers Divine Horsemen, which rebooted to release new work in 2021. While the pandemic was still going on, Julie moved from Nashville to NM and began the 2+ year process of recording "The Price We Pay for Love," out 4/14/2023 on WireBird Records. ... more

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