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Raise the Rent

by Greg Loftus

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1.
Looking for a bar that don’t want to be found Somewhere in the dark on the edge of this town Somewhere in the dark on the edge of this town Where I can play my part somewhere in the background Looking for a northern star over a southern town I’ll start a revolution and forget my cause Manifest a union of my gut and my heart Manifest a union of my gut and my heart Find a million uses and then pull it apart Take the same avenue I’ve taken all along There’s country side killers on the highway roads They’re running like cowards from the crowded coast They’re running like cowards from the crowded coast Waiting on the hour when it all goes cold Country side killers coming down on the highway road Start another brushfire Let it burn real good I wouldn’t try to put the thing out even if I could Let the flames grow tired Get a real good look I’m killing all my borrowed time in the cinder and soot I’m gonna head to the desert for a couple of days Waiting on the weather and the wind in my face Waiting on the weather and the wind in my face Get my shit together and steady my pace Heading on out to the desert for a couple of days I don't own this state of mind it’s just been rented awhile Workers on the road for the next ten miles Workers on the road for the next ten miles The sun’s coming up over the worthy and the wild I’m safe among the static haze of the radio dial
2.
Dance away my decadence Dance away my decadence The swans will start to sing their songs to mark the end So dance away my decadence Kingdoms crumble empires fail Four winds blow and trumpets wail My famished heart has found a feast in all this hell Kingdoms crumble empires fail You bring the mirror I'll make the smoke The coast is clear no one will know Strike up that scripture I stacked up on the stove You bring the mirror I'll make the smoke The storms won't stop the skies won't clear But somehow you're still standing there In a sun lit dress and stars stuck in your hair The storms will stop and skies will clear Dance away my decadence Dance away my decadence The swans will start to sing their songs to mark the end So dance away my decadence
3.
Way out past where everyone turns back I went and built my home by hand Set every stone way off the beaten path Drove every nail and settled in So save you bread crumbs and throw away your map It don't matter where you are or where you've been I'll take what I can get and I'll put it all on black Burn whatever's left and start again 500 mile down another five to go These badlands ain't that bad at all Waiting on a Greyhound to open up the road I may be down but I ain't out I'll take this heartache to my grave And I won't pray for providence There's blood out on the tracks and I'm wide awake But I won't make those same mistakes again I'll get the next round as long as I'm alone Go and fill my glass with something I can trust I'm working on my way out where ever I may roam I'll fall apart long before I rust 500 miles from where I first lost my mind In the backseat of a burned out Chevrolet Just bury me alive in those city lights And say what it is you came to say I'll take this heartache to my grave And I won't pray for providence Come tonight if I die before I wake The means won't justify the ends And I won't make those same mistakes again
4.
I left my home in el Dorado To look for work in Avalon The trail went cold west of Ohio A borrowed myth a siren's song On the south side of sorrow Another place I've never been This town's been rusted shut and hollowed Buy out the work and raise the rent Buy out the work and raise the rent Here's to our health and our demise It's hard to sing the blues when you're seeing red It's even worse to never try Railroad tracks across the midwest Spider web throughout the plains We all come from the wrong side of them Dust and blood burn in our veins So bury your last silver dollar And grab the hatchet while you wait We're turning wine back into water Because this ain't no time to celebrate This ain't no time to celebrate Here's to our health and our demise It's hard to sing the blues when you're seeing straight It's even worse to never try
5.
I've got that west Texas sweat burning in my eyes Running down my neck messing with my drive I wouldn't be caught dead dying by your side I've got leaving in my head trouble on my mind Tried to play it straight take it stale and slow I was early out the gate in a cloud of smoke I swear I'll make my way to a place I can lay low To a town of fifty-eight on the edge of Mexico The road along the mesa won't get you anywhere That's just where I'm going to do my time I'm running out of road I'm going in this blind I've got a pistol in my hand and trouble on my mind Palomino gold a diamond highway weeps This place it seems so old with no sign of history I turn my lights down low my sights are set on sleep I shouldn't be this cold wrapped in a fever dream The road along the mesa won't get you anywhere That's just where I'm going to make it right I'm running out of road I'm going in this blind I've got a pistol in my hand and trouble on my mind I've got that west Texas sweat burning in my eyes A feeling of regret running down my spine I hope I don't forget that girl I left behind I've got leaving in my head and running on my mind
6.
The name is McCoy I'm a brick mason's boy I'm a honest boat builder by trade I hail from Holly Hill and my friends call me Bill But I've buried that name in my wake Work as hard as we can me and my brother Ben But lately the work has been slow Hard times they come and hard time they go But these hard times won't leave us alone Leave us alone, leave us alone The railways came in and the highways began We sold the boat yard up in Jacksonville So to Gloucester we went gave them every last cent And left with Henry L. Marshall The Marshall was fast and we couldn't be kept We ran rum from Nassau to Maine Whiskey and rye, champagne and wine New York won't be dry not today I'm an honest boat builder is what I use to say My veins remain clean not a trace of the drink But what a man needs who's to say Still the best I assure the uncut the pure The only thing watered down is the bay We couldn't be bought stayed ahead of the law We stay safe three miles off the shore Supply and demand greenbacks in both hands These hard times ain't so hard no more I'm an honest lawbreaker but I carry my weight The name is McCoy I'm a brick mason's boy I'm a honest boat builder by trade It was a calm quiet night not a cloud in the sky But hurricane Perkin's awaits The orders came in when one ship turned to ten And the storm rolled right in off the port The thunder was swift it ain't hard to admit There really ain't much worth dying for I'm an honest bootlegger so give me my pay There's holes the Marshall and booze in the bay It's all over brother so anchor's away I walked on the water and got wrecked in the waves
7.
The dirt beneath my nails tells you I'm working My empty wallet says that I still drink The rust along my strings tells you I'm playing But I wish I could tell just where the hell you've been I scratch the paint from my voice every evening The ringing in my ears won't go away Rome is burning down fiddles are singing While I whistle dixie in the rain My shadow says it's five but I ain't shaving My television's on and lies to me The bags beneath my eyes the ain't done packing So there ain't no telling when they're gonna leave Carved into the kitchen table Is your chicken scratch name I'll leave the light on leave the lilies in the vase If you come home I won't be awake I can say that I am always treating Myself or my things all that nice These dirty knees have never been from praying But I swear to god I'll always treat you right
8.
This caged canary no longer sings This coal mine's empty you can't hear a thing The lights from the city they hide the stars And all the pretty girls are on their way home from the bars Just one more promise to make and break Just one more asshole filling up ashtrays Imported lager aborted faith And all the desperate boys are just waiting to get saved This holy water is all dried out Just like our mouths and bank accounts The city moans but we don't make a sound Nothing left to do but kill the lights On this eighty proof August night Take only what you can't leave behind I'm a walking dead man busting at the seems Striking up the house band lighting up these streets Another goddamn romance another goddamn dream Another broken heart stands in the way of everything
9.
You go and drag my name through the mud from states away But when a child make a mess it don't much bother me Red eyed and wild like a double wide serenade You walk a mile in your own shoes call it strife and cry for praise Well the grudge that you carry must be murder on your back But over your friends and your wits its the only thing that seems to last You bring a hunger to a table disguised as a diplomat You may be willing but you ain’t able killing time in the final act You say you don't like my songs Hell I barely like my songs But I hope they all sing along Because this one's for you You brought plenty of noise to that quiet town Now they all want you to quiet down Because it's hard to make a sound when there's nobody listening So I'll have to sing just to get through You say you don't like my songs Hell I barely like my songs But I hope they all sing along Because this one's for you The only thing you'd ever talk about Is becoming the king of this town But your crown rusted out so bad that she left you And I know it's true because she left for me

about

Raise the Rent was recorded at The Cat's Eye Studio in East Austin, TX. All song written and performed by Greg Loftus.

credits

released December 1, 2015

Recorded, Mixed, and Produced by Doug Walseth
Mastered by Carl Saff

Featuring:
Ben Ballinger - Backing Vocals
Beth Chrisman - Fiddle
Christy Hays - Backing Vocals
Cody Brown - Electric Guitar, Mandolin
Doug Walseth - Electric Bass
Evan Nicholson - Upright Bass
Ian Campbell - Harmonica
Kevin McCann - Drums
Pete Weiss - Keys, Accordion
Zachary Moulton - Pedel Steel, Dobro

Cover Design by Shea Cadrin
Cover Photo by Kim Hughes

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about

Greg Loftus Massachusetts

Calloused road-worn Americana from southeast Massachusetts. Greg Loftus spent the better half of the last decade living in Austin TX where he spent his time honing his songwriting skills and fronting the Alt-Country outfit Carpetbagger. Greg is currently working on his forth full-length solo record 'No Kings in the Wild' which is due out during the Spring of 2024. ... more

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