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.
1. |
High On High
03:26
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HIGH ON HIGH
The ancient greeks are playing cards
Down in the High St night café
A cloud of music from the Thornbury Theatre
Carries me away
Where the long beard hipsters hang
Happy as hippies sipping chai
I’m floating on the feeling of this place
I’m high on High
Nobody knows me
Nobody knows me but this town
Lately I’m finding
All my old dreams are shrinking down
All that I need is you my friends
There are jazz cats at the tram stop
There are folkies at the local
There’s a busker playing Elvis
And the drunks are getting vocal
Songs are pouring out the windows
I can’t come down if I try
You and I we’re poor but happy in this place
We’re high on High
Nobody knows me
Nobody knows me but this town
Lately I’m finding
All my old dreams are shrinking down
All that I need is you my friends
For twenty years now I have played
From bar to bar, from go to woe
If I retired this guitar
I’m sure no one would really know
But I see the world in songs
And I’ve just got to let ‘em fly
So I open up the cage and watch them soaring
High on High
Nobody knows me
Nobody knows me but this town
Lately I’m finding
All my old dreams are shrinking down
All that I need is you my friends
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2. |
Whatever Makes You Happy
04:17
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We built a home upon this solid ground
Made of bricks and wood
We settled down
We made a fire and it burned so bright so long
We watched the flames with our hearts entwined
The smell of embers roses and wine
Photographs in my memory still so strong
Whatever makes you happy
Whatever quells your fears
Whatever makes you stronger
Whatever dries your tears
You know I love you more babe
Than any jealous man could do
Whatever makes you happy
That’s what I want for you
But people change like the swell of the tide
I felt the storm brewing deep inside
As I watched you fell into his arms
You said “I’m sorry I let you down
And you don’t need me hanging around here
If I stay I will only bring you harm”
Whatever makes you happy, whatever quells your fears
Whatever makes you stronger, whatever dries your tears
Even if my heartbreak
Is the price I have to pay
If you’re happier without me
I wouldn’t make you stay
I love you more than living
You’re the air that I breathe
No matter what you’ve done
You’re the only one I need
Most men will only want you
When they’ve got you locked away
But this flame will keep on burning
If you go or if you stay
Whatever makes you happy, whatever quells your fears
Whatever makes you stronger, whatever dries your tears
If I could be the one dear
There’s nothing I won’t do
Whatever makes you happy
That’s what I want for you
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3. |
Summer's Gone
03:46
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The heavy Chains of
My silent oath
Are unlocking now
Seeking perfection
I was saving my heart
But I lost it somehow
The summer’s gone,
The summer’s gone
And we were too young
Too young to see our pride
The summer’s gone
The summer’s gone
We let a good thing go
Oh we never tried
I caught the jasmine
Scent of your hair
Just yesterday
I’ve changed since those days
When my stubborn head
Pushed you away
But my heart never stopped
Holding on
The summer’s gone,
The summer’s gone
And we were too young
Too young to see our pride
The summer’s gone
The summer’s gone
We let a good thing go
Oh we never tried
And as the season changes
Everything will fall
I won’t be one of those
Who tries to hold on to it all
I thought I saw you on the street
And now I feel it all again
I really did love you then
The summer’s gone,
The summer’s gone
And we were too young
Too young to see our pride
The summer’s gone
The summer’s gone
We let a good thing go
Oh we never tried
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4. |
Bodhi Tree
03:07
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I told my love that time doesn’t matter
Time will not get the best of me
Though my age was only eleven
My love a Bodhi tree
Some day I’ll see into your heart
The way you see in me
Some day I’ll be the ocean
And I’ll be the Bodhi Tree
I told my love that time doesn’t move
The way that our ticking clocks would show
And all the world keeps racing ahead
Though we don’t know where we go
Some day I’ll see into your heart
The way you see in me
Some day I’ll be the ocean
And I’ll be the Bodhi Tree
Some day I’ll see into your heart
The way you see in me
Some day I’ll be the ocean
And I’ll be the Bodhi Tree
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5. |
She's Leaving Melbourne
03:41
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She’s leaving Melbourne tonight
She’s getting on that evening flight
To set things right
I see her cry through the day
‘Cause she knows that there’s no other way
We lie to ourselves and say, “she’ll be back someday”
She’s leaving school friends behind
We love her but we can’t change her mind
She’s resigned
What will become of the choir?
We need her spark to light the fire
And her voice can lift us higher
Her spirit can inspire
And she’s holding it together
For the weaker
Voices in the choir
Singing like a better life
Is right in front of her
Holding all that weight upon her shoulders
See in her eyes she’s older
Older than her years
She disappeared back in June
The sopranos couldn’t hold the tune
We prayed she be back soon
She was skipping school
Working all day
She had to be the one to bring home the pay
It’s all for her mother’s sake
Who’s been in a bad way
And she’s holding it together
For the weaker
Voices in the choir
Singing like a better life
Is right in front of her
Holding all that weight upon her shoulders
See in her eyes she’s older
Older than her years
Her mother needs the family close
They’re flying back to her home town
My friend she’s only 16
And I know she wants to stick around
She finally found a place where she belongs
Where she feels young and free
And everybody’s leaning on her
Hoping that she’ll
Hold it all together
For the weaker
Voices in the choir
Singing like a better life
Is right in front of her
Holding all that weight upon her shoulders
See in her eyes she’s older
Older than her years
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6. |
Through the Night
03:03
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Yesterday I watched you sleeping
Touched your cheek there where you lay
Ran my fingers down your spine
And pretended you were mine
Like when we were 23
Felt like you were part of me
You’d wake me up with a kiss
But now all I have is this
You won’t let me near you when the day comes
You won’t let me touch you in the light
I can only get close when you’re sleeping
I can only hold you through the night
Something changed last year in May
After you’d been away
You said everything was fine
But I knew you were no longer mine
Now I say I love you while
You can only force a smile
Moving to avoid my touch
Never caring very much
About what I have to say
You won’t let me near you when the day comes
You won’t let me touch you in the light
I can only get close when you’re sleeping
I can only hold you through the night
Through the night I kiss your shoulder
And you smile for someone else
But for a while I can pretend that it’s for me
I know the day’s coming soon
You’ll leave me some grey afternoon
But that’s a conversation that can wait
It’s not something I’ll initiate
Before that day I’ll leave you be
Until you come back to me
Each time you turn out the light
And I hold you through the night
You won’t let me near you when the day comes
You won’t let me touch you in the light
I can only get close when you’re sleeping
I can only hold you through the night, through the night
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7. |
Strange Fruit
05:19
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The trees are overflowing,
Like an unspoken prayer
The dairy cowbells are ringing
Through the mountain air
As a weary traveller
I am welcomed in
Treated like I’m kin
Biscuits by the fire
Country hospitality
I say “Is that your boy out the window?
That young man beneath the tree?”
The woman shuts the curtains
With downcast eyes
As the man replies:
“There’s a strange fruit
hanging from that tree
It’s been poisoned by the devil
And it’s cursed this family
Jesus Christ catch us if we fall
One strange fruit could stain us all”
Down at St Matthews
The whole town’s packing in
Father says to love the sinner but condemn the sin
The young man stays on after mass
He kneels to pray
No one looks his way
They all read the bible
But he reads a different part
They’ve got Jesus in their egos
He’s got Jesus in his heart
He loves his neighbors
As he bears the weight
Of eyes and words of hate
“There’s a strange fruit
hanging from that tree
It’s been poisoned by the devil
And it’s cursed this family
Jesus Christ, catch us if we fall
One strange fruit could stain us all”
I stayed in touch
After I passed through
I hear the young man said out loud
What everybody knew
“I love another man,
My heart is true.
Just like my love for you”
His ma and pa,
Denounced him as their own
They told him he was going to hell
Their words hit him like stones
I wish I’d been there,
I wish I’d stayed on
To tell him they were wrong
“There’s a strange fruit
hanging from that tree
With it’s flesh as pale as Jesus Christ up on Mount Calvary
And all the sinners come
To watch it fall
One strange fruit could save them all
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8. |
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Standing on Kew Junction corner
Waving your arms in the air
Dancing man I heard they call you
Makes me smile to see you there
You make the world beautiful
You make the world beautiful
You make the world beautiful
Just being who you are
Painted girl, ink on your body
Metal piercings over your face
Reading poetry down on Smith st
Some believe you’re out of place
But you make the world beautiful
You make the world beautiful
You make the world beautiful
Just being who you are
All alone you walk the school yard
Trying to find a place to hide
Not a friend to share your world with
So you keep yourself inside
But you make the world beautiful
Just being who you are
How many lonely people
How many sailing with the tide
How many scared to take a chance
Take a chance
Take a chance
To keep their dreams alive
And make the world beautiful
And make the world beautiful
and make the world beautiful
Just being who they are
You make the world beautiful
You make the world beautiful
You make the world beautiful
Just being who you are
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9. |
We Follow the Tide
03:47
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We follow the Tide
We don’t look back
No moon here to guide us
We don’t look back
We see a glow so far away
Our legs keep moving day by day
We fear the path that leads away from hear
There are a million people falling
Down this road
There are a million people falling
Your eyes have been wandering
We don’t look back
You heard a voice calling,
Calling you back
You closed your eyes and stepped aside
You found a road that starts inside your soul
And weaves beside a million hearts
There are a million people falling
Down this road
There are a million people falling
Is that a guiding angel calling?
Can you hear?
Is that a guiding angel calling you away?
Though I keep walking
You’ve got me doubting
The road I’m heading down
Have I been listening?
Is there a guiding angel calling?
There are a million people falling
Down this road
There are a million people falling
Is that a guiding angel calling?
Can you hear?
Is that a guiding angel calling you away?
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10. |
All Things
04:46
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I walked a bare-footed, nine mile, midnight
Pilgrimage of self-pity.
She was Snow White,
So pretty
I was a drunk
It wasn’t her fault
It wasn’t even mine
It wasn’t meant to be
But telling her set me free
And she came out fine
All things will come right in the end
And nothing comes of desperation
All things will come right in the end
When we let go of desperation
She flew to Europe
And I drove north
Living our lives apart
Trying to get her out of my heart
Trying…
But I was reborn
In heartbreak’s ashes
No longer a desperate man
Holding an empty hand
Up to the Sky
All things will come right in the end
And nothing comes of desperation
All things will come right in the end
When we let go of desperation
Dreams are not set in stone
They’re clouds
They’re always shifting, changing
If you try to hold one down too long
Open your hand,
And it’s gone
There’s another way to where you’re going
All things will come right in the end
And nothing comes of desperation
All things will come right in the end
When we let go of desperation
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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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