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.
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1. |
A Sad Clown
03:39
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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
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2. |
Exile on Myrtle Beach
05:31
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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
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3. |
Honey, Let's Go To Town
02:52
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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.
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4. |
Like Nothing Hurts
04:36
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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...
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5. |
Burning Star
03:40
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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.
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6. |
Cold Tennessee Rain
03:52
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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.
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7. |
Vienna, Illinois
04:53
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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
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8. |
Slow Blue Fly
03:46
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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______
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(Cause) The ones I got___ are losin’ steam___
:|| ___________.
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9. |
Anything Like Home
05:00
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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.
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10. |
Sunday
04:11
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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
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11. |
Hold On
05:38
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12. |
The Sun
03:30
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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_________.
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13. |
Getting Through
03:24
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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___?
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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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