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Manhood Method Actor

by John Flanagan

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Award-winning songwriter John Flanagan has been praised for his authentic, heartfelt storytelling and uplifting performances. His forthcoming album Manhood Method Actor brings to life the soulful folk-rock sound of the 70s, taking inspiration from the likes of Jackson Browne, CSNY, Bonnie Raitt and Van Morrison. Lyrically the album traverses various landscapes of masculinity and relationships with themes of love, conflict, parenthood and coming of age. With soaring harmonies, powerful horn melodies, a grooving rhythm section and Flanagan’s warm, stirring vocals: the album draws the listener through moments of infectious joy, glimpses of touching sadness and everything in between.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Manhood Method Actor via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Manhood Method Actor on Vinyl. Available now!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Manhood Method Actor via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • T-Shirt/Shirt + Digital Album

    John Flanagan eagle T-shirt. The AS Colour T-shirt is soft and comfortable

    Includes unlimited streaming of Manhood Method Actor via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 9 John Flanagan releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Manhood Method Actor, Honest Man, Beauty On The Bottom, There's Another Way To Where You're Going, High On High, Whatever Makes You Happy, The Last of the Cassette Men, Young Minds, and 1 more. , and , .

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1.
What kind of crazy are you With the ones you love? Hey call me lazy But I don’t want to waste 6 month Playing games heart and mind Just pretending that we’re not messed up Let’s toast to truth and wine And youth while we’re both dressed up Tell me I’m wrong But there ain’t no easy love What’s this fairytale all about? We pay the price for these lies of easy love Easy come easy go That’s the easy way out Romance is breathing I say maybe it’s better off dead You’ll end up leaving When I don’t fit with what’s in your head You’re a funky love junky I could deal you up your dopamine high Will you still love me When the hard stuff is short on supply? Tell me I’m wrong But there ain’t no easy love What’s this fairytale all about? We pay the price for these lies of easy love Easy come easy go That’s the easy way out I’m not gonna be your everything Or complete your mind and soul If you’re ready we can work to bring out The best in our love Don’t you know Let a long love grow Tell me I’m wrong But there ain’t no easy love What’s this fairytale all about? We pay the price for these lies of easy love Easy come easy go Take the high with the low That’s why I’ll take it slow Not the easy way out
2.
I was a writer A writer of love songs And I got lost down a lonesome road And I was a fighter And I righter of past wrongs And I buried my heart under a heavy load I wrote a story and it wrote me I wrote myself into a cavalry Chained my wrist to a mystery somehow Darling let’s run away Into the darkness, into the darkness There’s a price for those who stay Under the moonlight Singing their hearts out When you look at me that way You’re gonna be the sweetest Memory I save I was a lost cause Caught in a slow dance First on the floor and the last one home Forgot what I fought for In the heat of the romance When the cold sun hit me I was all alone I undressed in the heat of the fire I sold my soul to a gospel choir Woke up older Still and quiet And free Darling let’s run away Into the darkness, into the darkness There’s a price for those who stay Under the moonlight Singing their hearts out When you look at me that way You’re gonna be the sweetest Memory I save.. …You’re gonna be the sweetest Melody I play
3.
He’s got a handshake like a chiropractor He’s subtle as a car compactor He’s a cocaine vacuum in a bar-room costume He’s a manhood method actor Walks the streets of Brisbane town With his pride of cubs 10 beers down He says meet my fist I’ll add you to my list As they laugh at the stranger on the ground He’s One Punch, One Punch Ryan You won’t see his fist come flying One Punch And leaves ‘em lyin’ there One Punch Ryan He’s a mirror gazing gym fanatic He’s patri-archaic symptomatic Pity the girl who comes into his world This jackals lair could be traumatic He’s left his trail of blood and pain A broken jaw, bruising to the brain And that’s just speaking of this week Next weekend he’ll do it all again He’s One Punch, One Punch Ryan You won’t see his fist come flying One Punch And leaves ‘em lyin’ there One Punch Ryan Well they got him on the CC TV A coward’s punch for all to see Now he’s out on bail did the system fail? Walks the streets like you and me Betty Jones says “this ain’t right This coward needs to face an even fight! Spread the word round town I’m gonna take him down. If he’s got the backbone Better meet me tonight ‘Cause I’m Bare Fist Bare Fist Betty One Punch Coward you best be ready For a fair fight Come and get me! I’m Bare Fist Betty!” An eye for an eye Will leave the whole world blind The Angels on high They say “Just this once I don’t mind. Just take a look at this One Punch One Punch Ryan Always sneaking up behind them One Punch And leaves ‘em lyin’ there One Punch Ryan” They call him One Punch One Punch Ryan Bare Fist Betty Punched his eye in One Punch And he was crying One Punch Ryan They call him One Punch Ryan
4.
He was a beast on the footy field He got a place in the Richmond team It was a boyhood fantasy But he had sights on a different dream He met a girl in a Fitzroy share-house They ended up out in the ‘burbs With a dog and three kids running wild out by the curb Are you gonna mean something to everyone? Or are you gonna mean everything to someone? He had a dream of the family nest Giving us all everything we please Until the day that he grabbed his chest Eyes rolled back, falling to his knees Well he almost died that day And his mind was never the same And my mother had to hold it all together When those hard times came 30 years in a dead end job I know it’s not what you’d call success Never climbing his way to the top He put his head down he did his best He did whatever he could through the years To find a better job and bring in the dough But every time he failed I’d see him with his head hung low Are you gonna mean something to everyone? Or are you gonna mean everything to someone? Son of a father He’s the father of a son Are you gonna mean everything To someone? I remember the day he day he said I wish I could've been a better dad I could not find the words then to say I never wanted for more than I had Every boy on his daddy’s shoulders Knows there’s no place on earth quite as high Some days I’m still up there reaching for the sky Nowadays I’m out on the suburbs too I’ve got a wife a boy of my own We’ve got our own dreams big and small A little flock in the great unknown When my old man holds that boy I see the look of love in his eye That's as close as you get To a looking glass back through time Are you gonna mean something to everyone? Or are you gonna mean everything to someone? Son of a father Now I'm Father of a son Am I gonna mean everything To someone?
5.
Eagle 04:33
Nobody like me has ever left this town I’ve maybe been a roadhouse up A few rivers down I had a couple teachers From the big smoke passing through Mumma said don’t get too close They’ll only stay a year or two The other day I saw an eagle fly Gliding down here through the sky Landed in the dust right by me Stared at me with its glaring eyes And those eyes they did remind me Of this wildness I feel inside Took off flying so, so high So high, so high So high My best friend Tommy We used to swim in the river Now at only 19 he’s already got a bad live I said to him “Tommy, I think I might move down to Perth” “I’ll believe it when I see it” he said As he spat in the dirt The other day I saw an eagle fly Gliding down here through the sky Landed in the dust right by me Stared at me with its glaring eyes And those eyes they did remind me Of this wildness I feel inside Took off flying so, so high So high, so high So high Maybe we can only be What we can see You never even see a plane fly out here Just on TV Maybe we can only go To places we know You’ve gotta feel a pull in your imagination Like an undertow The other day I saw an eagle fly Gliding down here through the sky I was turning onto the Great North Highway Start of a 16 hr drive Thumbed a ride with a road train driver I was smiling like a giddy child I was riding so, so high So high, so high So high
6.
I've got a love She says I'm no good That I don't do an ounce Of the things that I should Maybe she's right And maybe she's wrong I've been trying so hard To please her for so long But lately, I've been feeling the weight Lately, can't even hold myself straight Do you know what it means Just to see your face? I've been tired, I've been low I've been in a dark place My friend.  Tell me how you lift me up So ease-fully Just by being someone who believes in me I go to work I sit at my chair All my dreams in the drawer All my plans in the air Most days it feels like I'm just scraping through Like I'm doing the least Of what I could do But lately I've been starving for light You wake me up, you take me up, spirit in flight Do you know what it means Just to see your face? I've been tired, I've been low I've been in a dark place My friend.  Tell me how you lift me up So ease-fully Just by being someone who believes in me You see the best in who I am Who I could become This flower grows towards the light of the sun And when this long night is done Do you know what it means Just to see your face? I've been tired, I've been low I've been in a dark place My friend.  Tell me how you lift me up So ease-fully Just by being someone, who believes in me
7.
Don’t get me wrong I know it’s harder for you Though I try to be strong Do you see that it’s hard for me too When we’re both in our pain In your eyes heavy rain It’s cloudy in my heart When you need my love I need yours Yet we lead with our claws out Both of us on guard On this dark moon night Faith is fading On this dark moon night Love is waning A man shuts his heart And tries to stand as a shield He plays his part His father’s wounds left unhealed There’s such a long way to travel This old skin must unravel To let a new one grow I’ve got so much to learn You're my teacher on this journey To the depths below On this dark moon night Faith is fading On this dark moon night Love is waning But the full moon light is returning While we’re yearning for love On this dark moon When we’re good We’re good as gold That’s most of the time The truth be told Just as soon as these shadows fall We forget it could ever Be bright at all On this dark moon night… On this dark moon night I will hold ya On this dark moon night I’ll console ya That the full moon light is returning But we learn about love on this dark moon night
8.
9.
It's Time 03:08
Rise up young man On this night we fly Leave behind your mother No time for goodbye Growing is pain It’s easier if you know it You can try escaping But you will only slow it It’s time to stand up It’s time for breaking down It’s time to die To live again We’re going down Deep into the dirt Mining and refining No more hiding from the hurt Many a man Never goes so deep You can see him raging Thrashing in his sleep It’s time to stand up It’s time for breaking down It’s time to die To live again You are a pregnant volcano Until you look down to your shadow Cities may rise in your meadow Don’t wait till they burn To finally learn It’s time to stand up It’s time for breaking down It’s time to die To live again
10.
Something happened on that rainy night I don’t know what it was There must have been a conversation I was not part of Something changed the way you look at me Now you avert your eyes I don’t know what you heard about me But I think it’s lies Or at least not the whole truth Please, give me the chance to set this right Bring the truth to light Please, see this is more than black and white Bring the truth to light If I’ve done what you think I’ve done I will get down on my knees And say please Give me the chance to set this right I will make it right Now your friends they’re all avoiding me I’m being pushed aside And what was just a little crack Is now a chasm wide Before you spin me on your rumour mill Don’t you need to know it’s true ‘Cause if in fact I’m innocent Now what does that make you Now that you’re kicking the dirt on me Please, give me the chance to set this right Bring the truth to light Please, see this is more than black and white Bring the truth to light If I said what you think I said I will get down on my knees And say please Give me the chance to set this right I will make it right Maybe what you heard is true Well I’ve done a lot of stupid things If one of those affected you Then I’m sorry for your suffering I’m always trying to be better My love she’s tough I’ve changed since I met her Think what we could discover If we try to see the best in each other And give me the chance to set this right Please, give me the chance to set this right Bring the truth to light Please, see this is more than black and white Bring the truth to light If I am what you think am Would I be here on my knees? To say please Give me the chance to set this right I will make it right
11.
Don’t you take your love away You gave it in our heyday Don’t you take your love away You save me as your rainy day lover When you need cover Your love will come tumbling down When that rain starts pattering on the tin And that hail starts battering, howling wind That’s when you come teeth chattering to my window All dressed up like a glimmering red flamingo Don’t you take your love away You gave it in our heyday Don’t you take your love away You save me as your rainy day lover When you need cover Your love will come tumbling down I haven’t seen your face since God knows when You always had your place in my heart back then Now you pull your ace and I’m yours again You’ll be gone without a trace by tomorrow morning Don’t you take your love away You gave it in our heyday Don’t you take your love away You save me as your rainy day lover When you need cover Your love will come tumbling down And you always say you’re gonna stay around awhile And I wanna believe it’s not another lie And I always try to say goodbye for the last time You know just what to say that I cannot deny Oh what a fool am I? (Don’t you take, don’t you take) Don’t you take your love away You gave it in our heyday Don’t you take your love away You save me as your rainy day lover x2 Rainy day lover When you need cover Your love will come tumbling down x 3
12.
I See You 04:01
In the summer  That you and I began I see you naked by the dam Catching rain drops in your hand On the surface The ripples gently chime  As your body softly shines It’s a picture in my mind And I can see you Something in the way You hold your pain Something in the way You let it rain on you Something in your words So plain and true In the winter The stem of new life grows Tiny fingers, tiny toes Will he have your button nose? In the shower You sang Iris Dement Through the hours of punishment There was joy in your lament And I can see you Something in the way You hold your pain Something in the way You let it rain on you Something in your words So plain and true And I see every mother Now I see you I see the kind of strength I never knew And I see every woman Now that I’m listening  The fathoms far beyond A simple body glistening  And I now see you Something in the way You hold your pain Something in the way You let it rain on you Something in your words So plain and true

about

Award-winning songwriter John Flanagan has been praised for his authentic, heartfelt storytelling and uplifting performances. His forthcoming album Manhood Method Actor brings to life the soulful folk-rock sound of the 70s, taking inspiration from the likes of Jackson Browne, CSNY, Bonnie Raitt and Van Morrison. Lyrically the album traverses various landscapes of masculinity and relationships with themes of love, conflict, parenthood and coming of age. With soaring harmonies, powerful horn melodies, a grooving rhythm section and Flanagan’s warm, stirring vocals: the album draws the listener through moments of infectious joy, glimpses of touching sadness and everything in between.

credits

released June 2, 2023

John Flanagan - Vocals, piano, acoustic guitar, Wurlitzer, organ
Richard Rose - Bass
Justin Olsson - Drums, percussion
Paddy Montgomery - Electric guitar (tracks - 1,3,4,8,10,11)
Mark Zito - Electric guitar (tracks - 2,5,6,7,9,10)

Maggie Rigby - Backing vocals and vocal arrangements (4,5,8,9,12)
Elsie Rigby - Backing vocals and vocal arrangements (4,5,8,9,12)
Michaela Jayde - Backing vocals (1,2,3,6,11)
Timothy James Bowen - Backing vocals (1,11)
Rowena Wise - Backing Vocals (7,10)
Ben Abraham - Backing Vocals (2)

Declan Jones - Trumpet (1,2,3,6,7)
Ros Jones - Trombone (1,2,3,6)
Nick Lester - Alto, Tenor, Baritone Saxophones (1,2,3,6,7,8)
Xani Kolac - Violins (4)
Anita Hillman - Cellos (4)
Ben Franz - Pedal Steel Guitar (5,10)
Erick Jaskowiak - Additional percussion and organ

PRODUCED BY ERICK JASKOWIAK AND JOHN FLANAGAN

ENGINEERED BY ERICK JASKOWIAK

MIXED BY ERICK JASKOWIAK

RECORDED AT:
THE AVIARY RECORDING STUDIO, Abbotsford
ECHIDNA STUDIOS, Christmas Hills

ADDITIONAL OVERDUBS RECORDED AT
ROSEMARY’S HOUSE, Trentham
MYCELLIUM STUDIOS, Brunswick East
MACLEOD COLLEGE, Macleod
(One more place to confirm)

MASTERED BY ADAM DEMPSEY

PHOTOGRAPHY BY WILK

DESIGN BY JIM GRIMWADE

All songs by John Flanagan
Except Writer of Love Songs by Maggie Rigby, Elsie Rigby and John Flanagan
Horn Arrangements By Declan Jones, John and Erick
String arrangement by John and Erick

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John Flanagan Thornbury, Australia

From the Cygnet Folk Festival in Tasmania to the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia John Flanagan has won over fans far and wide. Audiences are drawn to the original but timeless melodies and deeply honest lyricism of the song-writing. Combining traditional old-time instrumentation with contemporary sensibilities John creates an alt-folk sound that is old and new at the same time. ... more

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