Get all 8 Karyn Oliver releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Cherchez La Femme, Pelican, Jenny, Cry Hallelujah, A List Of Names, Magdalene, Red Dress, and Hurricane.
1. |
Lay Your Burden Down
03:34
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Take care of yourself, ‘cuz we need you
Lay your burden down
We all need some rest
We’ve been walking uphill for a long, long time
It seems like the journey won’t end
When you walk all alone it can feel like
There’s no one else left
So lay your burden down
Lay your burden here
Lay it here with me
I will carry you if you carry her
She will carry the next
We will carry each other until
There is no more need
So lay your burden here with me
Take a breath, Take a nap
Read a book, Sing a song
Take care of yourself, ‘cuz we need you
Phone a friend, Have a laugh
Take a walk, Get some sun
Take care of yourself, ‘cuz we need you
Lay your burden down
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2. |
Jenny
03:18
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Jenny
You forgot the good when you left
Said I was your perfect regret
Still don’t think I understand that
Jenny
Six months sitting by the phone here
Finally got what I had long feared
Just looked up and you were gone dear
I’d blame you if I could
You can’t be gone for good
Jenny
You said I haven’t really grown yet
If you had pain you never showed it
Still I suspect I might have blown it
I’d blame you if I could
Please don’t be gone for good
Long nights staring out the kitchen door
Still don’t know what I was looking for
Jenny
You waited twenty seven years here
Tried to help me see my way clear
Never made it out of low gear
I’d blame you if I could
Looks like you’re gone…
I’d blame you if I could
Oh god, you’re gone for good
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3. |
In Galveston
04:00
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15 blankets on the bed tonight
All pulled up to my eyes
60 years ends with the strangest joke
Thought the hurricane would bring me my demise
They say the gas is frozen underground
Windmills sleeping in the sky
This was always a long time coming
But it never fails to take them by surprise
CHORUS:
When the lights go out in Galveston
Darkness seeps into your skin
When the lights go out in Galveston
It’s the coldest place I have ever been
Bless the market bless the billionaire
Always thought I’d be that way
Could be a jackpot in my pocket now
But I’d trade it in for one warm sunny day
When the lights go out in Galveston
Darkness seeps into your skin
When the lights go out in Galveston
It’s the coldest place I have ever been
When the lights go out in Galveston
Darkness seeps into your skin
When the lights go out in Galveston
It’s the coldest place I have ever been
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4. |
The Game
03:20
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Ethel entered just to play here
Claims she doesn’t need to win
Daniel’s drinking in the day here
He’ll hang around, likes this town
Find some beer and trouble to sink in
Na na na lay your money down
Na na na play the game
Charlie’s checking the requirements
His ex’s song won just last year
Sarah’s sitting high on her fence
Though she hates the scene a prize might mean
A tiny little boost to her career
Theo thinks we’re all trained monkeys
Learning new tricks to make you smile
But he’s hooked here just like you and me
Rising to the challenge
Take the bait and run a country mile
Todd tells us Judge Joe’s harmless
While his whiskey breath crawls on my skin
Me I mutter, it’s just a contest
It’s no big deal swear that’s how I feel
But I suppose I’d really like to…
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5. |
Fabulous Flying Machines
03:41
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Mama says it’s a big scary world
I will bind you down here by my side
Daddy says they don’t think like us
I will build a brick wall and we’ll hide, so we hide
But the first time I blew bubbles I knew
My eyes filled with wonder
Over the wall they flew
All those fabulous flying machines
I drew great big propellers, bright green umbrellas
Seeking the freedom of much lighter beings
Those fabulous flying machines
Mama says there’s no use in dreaming
Look where it got me, you’ll see
Daddy says they don’t understand us
I’ll buy some more guns, keep us free, are we free?
If I sit still, let the chatter slow down
I can soar off to Africa, look, South America now
All these fabulous flying machines
Wright and DaVinci, Saint-Exupéry
Seeking the weightlessness found in my dreams
These fabulous flying machines
All these fabulous flying machines
Can take us to places we’ve never seen
Where people are different just like you and me
All these fabulous flying machines
These fabulous flying machines
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6. |
Skeleton
03:22
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No one likes a crybaby kid
Swallow your fear, keep your feelings hid
So I work to harden my skin
You can’t touch me if you can’t get in
All alone safe in my Skeleton
Look at me I bounce when I fall
Look at me I feel nothing at all
Put me up there on your highest wire
I will leap right through your fields of fire
All alone I inspire
When I built this shell I could not see
I left outside all that I need
Hard and thin growing brittle in the sun
Please crack me now so I can come undone
I will work to soften my new skin
You can’t touch me if you can’t get in
All alone trapped in my Skeleton
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7. |
Pelican
03:53
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You believed in sun on skin
Maybe half of those words about sin
All you need is a car and a few good friends
That party over the Bay Bridge never ends
You are salt water breezes
Warm shell in my hand
Dig your long toes in the sand
Pelican
You believed in the slap of ball on glove
Sharp crack of the bat sounds like love
Your boys round the bases, watch them go
Kick dust in the air and slide home
Salt water breezes
Warm shell in my hand
Dig your long toes in the sand
Pelican, Pelican
You believed in a packed house at Christmastime
Loud games in the front yard, cheap white wine
Glide low ‘cross the water, dip one wing
Now you are nothing, and everything
Salt water breezes
Warm shell in my hand
Dig your long toes in the sand
Pelican, Pelican, Pelican, Pelican
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8. |
Truth
03:40
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I know where the fire started
It was on the day she chose her name
In a corner bleaker, darker
They were seeking someone new to blame
In a glass they had distorted
She became a mirror for their shame
Shame
Born into a foreign country
Toting a star only she could know
Into a town that held no mercy
Into a town with no more room to grow
They wore the badges of their history
Cutting quick, learning oh so slow
So slow
Was she the spark, was she the gasoline
Will you let them define what your eyes have seen
Say her name when you are hiding
Say her name when it becomes your turn
Say her name when they’re dividing
Say her name to anyone who can learn
Say her name when you’re deciding
To fight the fire or let the whole thing burn
Let it burn
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9. |
Dance With Me
03:07
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Spotlights have faded it’s time they went home
Tired but I don’t find sleep
Fine people are dreaming but I’m not on my own
You pack all my things up for me
You hold my hand as you drive
I slide back behind my closed eyes
Where you dance with me
Flaunting my fault lines, telling terrible jokes
Trusting you love all of me
Straight down the slope, let it go, let it go
Did you know those were things you taught me?
You hold my heart when I cry
You let out the lines when I fly
And you dance with me
Si tu danses avec moi
Je danserai avec toi
Dance with me
Dance with me
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10. |
All Clear
04:04
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When we get through this I will go to the city
When we get through this I will ride on a train
I’ll be the crush, elbows on the sidewalk
Push and pull I will dive right in
When we get through this I will fly to my loved ones
When we get through this I will jump on a plane
I’ll be the hug, going on forever
I will hold on I will breathe you in
When we get through this I will have you all over
When we get through this I will make one fine meal
I’ll be the laughter, drift across the table
Open wide I will take you in
I miss the sight of your smile
I miss the warmth of your skin
I miss the noise I miss the players
I guess I miss most everything
When we get through this I will run to the music
When we get through this I will sing with my friends
We’ll be the song, go tell it on the mountain
Sing loud I will drink you in
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11. |
Cry Hallelujah
03:40
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I have been a laborer
I have been a thief
I have squandered your reward
For the taste of sweet relief
But I never saw that face before
No I never saw your face before
Now I cry Hallelujah, Hallelu…
I cry Hallelujah
Just in case you’re crying Hallelujah, too
I have been your Magdalene
I have been your beast
I have sacrificed my flesh
For the crumbs beneath your feast
But I never saw this face before
No I never saw my face before
I cry Hallelujah, Hallelu…
Hallelujah
Just in case, just in case
Hallelujah, Hallelu…
Hallelujah
Just in case you’re crying Hallelujah, too
You’re crying Hallelujah, too
Hallelu
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Karyn Oliver Fort Worth, Texas
2024 FAI Official Showcase Artist
WINNER 2020 South Florida Folk Festival Songwriting Contest
New Album Here!
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