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1.
A Sad Clown 03:39
A Sad Clown © 2017 Julie Christensen Now that you are grown You might be considering a profession You’ll be leaving home It’s hard to admit you have some questions I know that we’ve grown apart But I want to tell you with my heart: Do what you love, ‘cause you only get paid in lessons. yeah yeah Your mama’s a sad sad clown How long has she been around? There’s work to be done And no time for her to slow down Your mama’s just a sad sad clown You’d think she’d have figured it out by now And passed on the news to you You’d think she’d have given it up somehow, But what else is she gonna do? Your mama’s just a sad sad clown When I was alone I never wondered about the ending Lonely to the bone, Still I had no intention of bending They all tried to tell me who I’d be I was building this old clown that you see If push comes to shove, I don't wanna be caught pretending ___ yeah yeah yeah Your mama’s a sad sad clown How long has she been around? There’s work to be done There’s no time for her to slow down Your mama’s just a sad sad clown There’s no joy in Mudville to be found There’s no money in it, no reknown No pieces to pick up off the ground Your mama’s just a sad sad clown Your mama’s just a sad sad clown Your mama’s a sad sad clown How long has she been around? There’s work to be done There’s no time for her to slow down Your mama’s just a sad sad clown Sad Sad Clown Sad Sad Clown
2.
EXILE ON MYRTLE BEACH © Darrin Bradbury I was countin’ roaches in a Chicken Shack Down on Myrtle Beach The sun to my back Got caught stealin’ hubcaps off a Pontiac Yeah, and here I am Skippin’ stones and watchin’ birds Headed from Albuquerque And I made a wrong turn So I picked up some cardboard And I wrote down some words Someone said it was a sign Yeah well, you and me Yeah we’re off scot-free Like Bruce on a bike with some boardwalk queen They two lanes’ll take you anywhere, But I guess they’ll take you on down Down past Myrtle Beach I saw Richard Pryor throw a stone into the ocean Had a couple new jokes But none of them were worth quotin’ A couple good quips, yeah, and I guess that’s it Nothin’ really on fire I seen Elvis Presley down at the popsicle stand Gettin’ cues from Andy Kaufman On how to shake his ass They’re doin’ a double header Three night stand At Fran’s Eastside Yeah well, you and me Yeah we’re off scot-free Like the heads that roll off the French Royalty The Revolution was nothin’ but a strong narrative Great publicity. Keeps the tourists in Myrtle Beach Well I guess I’ll keep quiet, like Ol’ Charlie Chaplin Didn’t like the steak, So I spit it in the napkin It was too well-done for anything to happen Guess I wanted somethin’ rare But the ballgame’s startin’ So everybody cheer You know it’s a good song if it sells som beer You held me in the nosebleeds Sayin’ “why are we here?” I said, “why do you care?” Yeah well, you and me Yeah we’re off scot-free Like Eva and Adolf in a submarine Some folks say they’re in Buenos Aires But I’ve seen ‘em both chompin’ on hot dogs And strollin’ down Myrtle Beach Yeah well, you and me Yeah we’re off scot-free Like Bruce on a bike with some boardwalk queen They two lanes’ll take you anywhere, But I guess they’ll take you on down Down past Myrtle Beach
3.
Honey, Let's Go to Town ©2017 Julie Christensen At the Lakewood RV and Campground South of the Drag, Outside of town We were welcome to pull in on the Yamaha for the night So we stayed for a month and drank a bit Saw the beach, but mostly we got lit Not a morning went by wouldn’t one of us pick a fight. I’d say “Honey Let’s Go To Town.” But he would not take me there. He bought me a new tattoo On the boardwalk at Wither’s Swash We rode the ferris wheel and that was cool. But the roller coaster, I didn’t like that much It wasn’t the Skywheel or the real boardwalk But he would not take me there. solo ||: Hey someday I’m gonna take a ride Jump on your Harley and head up 95 I’m gonna know what it is to be alive Maybe Atlantic City C’mon Honey Let’s Go To Town Hey Honey Let’s Go To Town Honey Let’s Go To Town Cause he would not take me there.
4.
Like Nothing Hurts ©Julie Christensen Oh, I’m just having a bit of a hard day It’s not like I’m dyin Though we die a little bit all the time, okay? It isn’t violent,  Like Death walkin in with an AR-15 And opening fire God rest all their souls And let us pray____. Oh, I just really mustn’t complain. I’m whinin, is all. I’m talkin about just a little pain Makes me feel so small. I’m not in a war zone: No water, no electricity for days on end,  Where my killer or rapist waits around the bend It’s not insane_____. But when I rise up from my seat,  An invisible torturer cranks up the pliers on my knees And I may wince when I come back to sing or talk or play It might be that the show looks easy And I’ll make like nothing hurts And I’ll make like nothing hurts I’ll just make like nothing hurts Well I’ll make like nothing hurts And maybe it’ll help to get through On days like these On days like these...
5.
Burning Star 03:40
BURNING STAR © Tim Easton I heard your voice out in the parking lot It was 3 am — the bar doors were all locked A bottle was passed with an old guitar And you conjured the sound of a burning star Burning Star, Burning Star The night sky spits fire wherever you are And wherever you are is another place You’ll never be again. We can all see hell dancing in your eyes As you’re crossing the pond tossing out your lines Well you might reel one in, but you’ll never get far Only warmed by the embers of a burning star Burning Star, Burning Star The night sky spits fire wherever you are Burning Star, Burning Star Scattering ashes over battle scars And wherever you are is another place You’ll never be again. Listening to you now in this hotel room Singing “Two Girls” or “Some Lonesome Tune” I only see the shadow of who you really are Just ash and smoke signals from a still burning star__________! Burning Star, Burning Star The night sky spits fire wherever you are Burning Star, Burning Star Scattering ashes over battle scars And wherever you are there you go And wherever you go there you are And wherever you are is another place You’ll never be again Burning Star, Burning Star Burning Star.
6.
Cold Tennessee Rain © 2017 Julie Christensen Woke up to the grey Of a Cold Tennessee Rain Was steppin’ through my jeans Full of holes and plenty of stains Nothin about these clouds has got a silver lining If I tried to reach you now, it’d be bad timing In the Cold Tennessee Rain You just could not stay In the Cold Tennessee Rain You got good and mean And you sold whatever you gained Something about the wild and changeable weather Made you wonder, child, if it’d ever get better In the Cold Tennessee Rain I just decided that I liked it here Without you anyway Just figured that I’d get along Without you anyway I know that the sun won’t shine Without you anyway And I’ll have to face the day In the Cold Tennessee Rain Raised the window up To the Cold Tennessee Rain The night is interrupted By a Cold Tennessee Rain Nothin about these clouds has got a silver lining In the Cold Tennessee Rain.
7.
Vienna, Illinois © 2016 Julie Christensen I read your letter again today I didn't even feel sad I wonder, if I picked up the pen and the paper 
Could I even write you back? Vienna, Illinois Vienna, Illinois You never came to visit me I never wanted your tears My window looks right out onto the Shawnee 
I saw a sweet runnin deer So free. So free. Vienna, Illinois Vienna, Illinois 
I hardly talk to the other man who shares my cell I try not to think too much in between the bells It don't feel like livin any more than it feels like I'm dyin It just feels like I'm shufflin' through hell It just feels like I'm shufflin' through hell Vienna, Illinois Vienna, Illinois Downwind from trouble at the swamps at Grantsburg Murderers out walkin after eighteen years Then there are those of us whose lives changed forever Due to blindness from the beer And I've never even seen the town No I've never even seen the town Vienna, Illinois Vienna, Illinois So free (We're not that different, you and I) So free (I think about that all the time) Vienna, Illinois Vienna, Illinois Vienna, Illinois Vienna, Illinois
8.
Slow Blue Fly ©Julie Christensen and Laura Mayo Slow blue fly in the living room hummin’ Sky so quiet like a dark storm comin’ Out the window's a world unknown All's I know is the curtain's torn Send me down a stronger dream (Cause) The ones I got___ are losin steam___ Broken sign by the Trinity Southern Never been changed by the drunken breth’ren I sure hope that message lasts Says "Every Saint Has A Worried Past." It's half a mile out of my way But I drive by there every day A woman came by work today Asked if I knew how to pray____ She had something in her eyes Something I don't recognize (solo over verse) Slow blue fly in the living room hummin Sky so quiet like a dark storm comin Out the window's a world unknown All's I know is the curtain's torn __________ Send me down a stronger dream______ ||: (Cause) The ones I got___ are losin’ steam___ :|| ___________.
9.
ANYTHING LIKE HOME © Julie Christensen 2017 Then came the cataclysm of the words No one had to tell us what we heard They fell in my ears They fell in your ears I waited in a twisted knot for you to hear In vain Til it was over. Is it over? We are broken On the Inside By the window Like a war bride And it doesn't feel Anything Like our home You had a secret moment all alone No one else to whom you'd need atone Not on my side Not on your side I waited for you out across the great divide In vain Til it was over. And it's all over. We are broken On the Inside By the window Like a war bride And it doesn't feel Anything Like our home Like Our Home. Are you sleeping soundly there upon your bed? Are you still believing something that he said? I'll be on your side You be on my side I'll be waiting for you here across the great divide Til this is over, 'Cause We are broken On the Inside By the window Like a war bride And it doesn't feel Anything Like our home We're only broken on the inside Open the window Raise your voice and fight If it's gonna be Anything Like Our home. Like Our Home Like Our Home.
10.
Sunday 04:11
SUNDAY © 2016 Julie Christensen Bare Trees in a sunlight crown White patent leather shoes on the cold hard ground In the dry brown grass of early spring Out there in the yard beyond the swings Mother Mary Open Arms I am raising up my palms Sunday Praying to make sense Of where the Fridays went Sunday I smiled but the camera knew Little cat-eye glasses hid my eyes so “blue” Grandma’s daffodils came up in time For April First Communion in Oelwein Mother Mary Open Arms I am raising up my palms Sunday Praying to make sense Of where the seasons went Sunday All my people left that town Got married or they died or they’re not around Used to be a homemade grotto there That my daddy built for the Virgin Mary But I don’t see her now I can’t feel this place any more I close my eyes just like before Mother Mary Open Arms I am raising up my palms Sunday Praying to make sense Of where the decades went Sunday Sunday Sunday
11.
Hold On 05:38
12.
The Sun 03:30
The Sun © Julie Christensen Long nights when you were mine Might rain but it would clear up We bathed in love and moonshine No reason not to stay up And holler at the dawning day To just come on Just come on _____ And the sun________was shinin' down on me For a little while Some kind of heaven was smilin' down on me Felt like I was a little child Yeah, the sun____ was shinin down on me For a little while For a little while Now days are full of rain There's no sign of a let up These days it's hard to name A good reason just to get up And face down every cloud And darkness comin' on It's comin' on_____ But the sun________was shinin' down on me For a little while Some kind of heaven was smilin' down on me Like when I was a little child Yeah, the sun________was shinin' down on me For a little while For a little while For a little while For a little while_________.
13.
Getting Through © 2018 John Hadley, Sergio Webb, and Julie Christensen Maybe it's just the coffee talkin Maybe it's all of the money walkin Sure am tired of dancin on this wire Got a few new irons in the fire It's good to have 'em now that I have learned How to pick 'em up without getting burned___ Sailin' Navigatin through the tribulation Sailin' The stars will take me to my new destination ___And I'm gettin through And I'm gettin through___ Interlude: Standin by an old highway sign I've driven by 'em all a thousand times Down to where the ocean meets the land To bury yesterday in the sand Endless sky out beyond my bow The wind is with me and I'm movin__now Sailin' Navigatin through the tribulation Sailin' The stars will take me to my new destination And I'm gettin through And I'm gettin through___ Am I gettin through___?

about

An acoustic but gritty album of mostly Julie's songs plus a couple other East Nashville writers, and a Tom Waits classic. “A SAD CLOWN” is a flag-planting in the quicksand surrounding the “Tower of Song.” I’m here, dammit, and here I’ll drown, waving! Featuring Julie Christensen, Chris Tench, Sergio Webb, Steve Latanation and Jeff Turmes, and recorded at The Sound Shelter in Franklin, TN., “A Sad Clown” takes a triumphant bow on March 16, 2018.

credits

released March 16, 2018

Featuring Julie Christensen, Chris Tench, Sergio Webb, and Jeff Turmes, and recorded at The Sound Shelter in Franklin, TN.

lead vocals on all songs: Julie Christensen

A SAD CLOWN
Julie Christensen & Stone Cupid
Produced by Julie Christensen with Chris Tench
Recorded December 1-7, 2017 by, and Mixed December 8-10, 15 & 16, 2017 by Brett Ryan Stewart
at The Sound Shelter in Franklin, Tennessee
additional recording of Dave Moore by Jon Baumgartner At Acme Sound in Grinnell, Iowa on December 13, 2017
Mastering by Mark Chalecki at Little Red Book Mastering in Los Angeles, California
Graphic Design by Nancy Terzian at Buckinghorse Design in Nashville
Clown Painting—Unknown Junk Store Find. (Karov)
℗ & © 2018 Stone Cupid Music stonecupid.com PO Box 60266 Nashville TN 37206

THANK YOU:
John Henry Diehl, Mom, Jeff Turmes, The Sound Shelter cast and crew, Jamie Rubin for the love and Washburn 12-string, Parker Hawkins for the funk and acoustic bass, Dave Moore, Jon Baumgartner, Sharyl Holtzman at GirlRockLtd, Clay Pasternack and Stacey Taylor, “President Petty,” to all the musicians and writers, our wonderful friends and family, and to all who are listening and still spending time and money on music

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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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