Get all 11 David James Allen releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of By The Summertime (Instrumentals), By The Summertime, Motion Picture Soundtrack (Transmission #2), Where There's Smoke There's Fire, Radiations (Instrumentals), The Architect, Radiations, Live at the Five & Dime, and 3 more.
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1. |
Billowed
04:59
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Let's try to be honest
And play those cards
When we feel our fear
And be open
Anytime that we billow tears
We’ve both been here before
Hiding in shadows of a lover’s quarrel
We’ve built our walls up high
No room for trust, no room for learning
Why each other hide
Let’s start something new…
Let's start something new…
As long as you agree
You won't hide yourself in me.
I will promise to
Never hide myself from you.
Let's try to be humoured
By the quirks of our foolish pride
And be daring at the sight of long goodbyes
We’ve both been here before
Standing in shadows of lover’s quarrels
It’s more than meets the eye
A soft and stirring manic lullaby
Let’s start something new…
Let’s start something new…
Let’s start something new…
Let’s start something new…
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2. |
The Devil and Me
03:39
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All the asteroids in the world don't scare me
It's the people I've met in the passing day
that trigger my fears and anxieties
They've done some bad things to my mother and me.
I've seen the devils smile in the eyes of a stranger
in fact the devil lives in my best friend
God won't help him.
God don't do much of anything..
You can call me John, call me Anthony!
I can be who you want, I just want you to think of me.
I want to stand in the light,
I'll take a ticket to ride as to be by your side.
All the floods in the world would'nt scare me
It's the people I've met in the passing day
that hide their evils and bury their brains in themselves
they don't care for a words meaning.
Ive felt the devils hand in the shake of a stranger
in the fact the devil lives in my best friend
who's helped to get me through hard times
he's listened to my heart beat
You can call me Job, call me Iscariot
I will be who you want, I just want you to think of me.
I want to be by your side, I'll take a ticket to ride
as to stand in the light.
to feel a part of the light
To be inside of the light
I've heard the devils voice from the lips of a stranger
in fact the devils gone and invited me in
God don't help me.
God don't do much of anything.
I’ll be the brightest violet,
the most blissful hum,
I'll be spread like butter across every atom
of this deep vast void; the Devil and Me
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3. |
By The Summertime
03:49
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By the summertime,
We were lazy dogs
Baked in the sun,
Halfway undone.
By the summertime,
We were cannonballs
Loaded and fun
Wasted by one.
Still.
In my dreams
I recall your face.
I’ve got you here, I’ve got you here,
I’ve got you here with me
My love.
I’m in love with it all…
The only sunny day I know
starts with your name.
By the summertime
We’d unraveled
Entwined our days
Made notes of our ways.
By the summertime
We were shamrock
Rooted in place
with soft gentle sway.
Still.
In my dreams
I recall your face.
I’ve got you here, I’ve got you here,
I’ve got you here with me
My love.
I’m in love with it all…
The only sunny day I know
starts with your name.
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4. |
Holly
03:04
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Holly, how I miss you my darling
Times been bittersweet
Holly, how I miss your sweet scent
In the morning by the side of the sun
In the nook of my arm
Oh Holly, you were good to me darling
Times been bittersweet
Holly, how I miss your sweet smile
By the side of the moon, your eyes like flowers in bloom.
Dimly lit bars, stale beer and the smell of cocaine
Don’t bring you back my friend.
Holly, I’ve been missing you darling
Times worn hard of me
Holly, I quit drinking the day I pushed you away
By the side of the stage to bask in a crows embrace
I never go back to our old watering hole
Where I first learned your name
Dimly lit bars cold beer in the heart of the wind
Don’t bring you back my friend.
Oh Holly, how I miss you my Holly
I’m keeping well for you Holly
I keep picking away at the scabs of the day
Created in pains of losing your patient embrace
The mask that I wear underneath this cowboy stare
Hides the scars of the child i've been
Drank so much Id start fights with the flies of the night
In a well of the righteous and kin
Oh, dimly lit bars, stale beer and the smell of cocaine
Feels like I'm losing you again
Oh, dimly lit bars, stale beer and the smell of cocaine
Feels like I'm losing you again...
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5. |
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Caught between the lines
Sobering; the times (they are)
You’ll be back on your feet
You’ll get back on your feet and start living
Sun soaking tune
Smiles in bloom
All the trials we face
Groom our green pastures
Just as you are (Carry on)
String of pearl and the dragon tree
Mirror grass and the turtle weed
You’ll swing back on the beat
To be strong on your feet, you’ll start feeling
Sun soaking rooms,
Smiles in tune
[backwards]
The trial we face
groom our green pastures
Just as you are (Carry on)
Just as you are (Carry on)
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6. |
Another Day Older
04:08
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All the drunks on the barroom cobblestone
Used to feel most important,
Now they’re looking worn.
I used to feel excited when I woke
Then all this numbness came and I awoke broke.
Don’t want to feel lonely anymore - that’s a fact
Singing lonely love songs has become a task.
About a love, that I thought I once knew
But I don’t know much these days… how about you?
Just another day older
Just another day older
another day older,
I am.
I know I’m tired of feeling upset
For no good reason but for the fear of losing it
Most of my thoughts
Come on strong and then they’re gone
I don't know anything
Especially when I’m wrong
So many people, at least inside my head
Seem like they know where they’re headed
And I'm still laying in my bed
They’re just as lost as you, lost as you,
Lost as you, lost as you
Though they don't show it,
You should know it; that the truth ain't always said.
Just another day older
Just another day older
another day older,
My friend
All these people; they’ll try to shut you down
Say ‘you can’t do it’, well tell em’ all to go hell
You know it’s important to learn to trust yourself
The more you trust yourself,
the more you trust in someone else
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7. |
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You were waiting tables
I was on the fly
A bouquet of begonia
You’re smiling wide and I’m in love
I’m in love with the way you blush and hide
After work on mondays
I’d meet you outside
Your bohemian workspace
The birds flying by and I’m in love
I’m in love with the way you blush and hide
In the darkest moments
I stand by your side
In our two bedroom rental
No goblins, no lies and I’m in love
I’m in love with the way you flex your mind
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8. |
Nuthouse
04:11
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In magic, oh magic time,
I suspend!
The only gift I’ve to offer
Is this song
The thread of my blue jeans is wearing thin
And everytime I turn a corner,
I find someone in Depends
I’m dependable, I’m mendable
I’ve bet nothing on the game
Just good feelings of love remain
They called me back from heaven
As I was stewing in the rain
Everyone I went to college with
Are now working for the man
Not me and my darling
We are holed up in the boonies
Turning dreams down the production line
That we have built with our two heads
Flushed out into the canyons
With nowhere to go
The ghosts of my dreams
Have me rolling in the snow
From a sauna to Muskoka,
To Toronto and below
I wear the streets like new demims
And the air as my coat
Take me to the nuthouse
And sing me songs,
Freedoms songs of never knowing
That's how I’d know
That I can make it on my own.
The river beds and soil
Tiny hand prints in the road
Whiskey will never save you
From the earth's romantic glow
Down every road I go
Obstacles like to show
Themselves like the sun in the morning
One day I’ll write my masterpiece
I’ll sing til’ its complete
And when its’ done, I’ll be dead and gone
And it’ll be plastered in the streets
Take me to the nuthouse
And sing me songs,
Freedom songs of never knowing
By then I’d know
That I could make it on my own
Not a dollar to my name
They say I’m drifting through the plains
But I see the flowers between the sidewalks
Life’s a funny, tricky game
Of praise, pause and come-agains,
But peer on beneath the surface
And the magic starts to dance
Take me to the nuthouse
And sing me songs,
Freedom songs of never knowing
And then I’d know
That I have made it on my own
Take me to the nuthouse
And sing me songs,
Freedom songs of never knowing
By then I’d know
That I have made it on my own.
In magic, oh magic time,
I suspend!
The only gift I’ve to offer
Is this song by my pen
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9. |
One Day You'll Wake Up
03:53
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One day you’ll wake up
To find that time’s collapsed
And everyone you know is growing old
One day you’ll wake up
To see that everything
that once was warped is clear and cordial
[...but you my ask yourself]
How will I learn to cope?
[with the things that matter or with the things that sadden me]
How will I learn to close?
[the doors of time, an anxious mind; that's rolling like a stone]
One day you’ll wake up
To see how fashion fades
How fast life moves
When days are spent like fines
One day you’ll wake up
to breath, don’t suffocate
The weight of waiting
**Lightens with the pace / lightens in your stride / lightens in your mind**
[...but you my ask yourself]
How will I learn to cope?
[with the things that matter or with the things that sadden me]
How will I learn to close?
[the doors of time, an anxious mind; that's sinking like a stone]
[blown apart and blown away, won’t blow me down]
Any day you’ll hit your stride
[blown apart and blown away, won’t blow me down]
Any day you’ll hit your stride
[blown apart and blown away, won’t blow me down]
Any day you’ll hit your stride
[blown apart and blown away, you may ask yourself...]
How will I learn to stoke?
[the things that matter and the me I want to be]
How will I learn to fold?
[the doors of time, an anxious mind; that invades my self-esteem]
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10. |
Don't Pry Me Open
05:16
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Don’t pry me open
Don't shatter my doubts
Sunlights a setting,
Beyond the maple tree bough
And I'm on the lookout
for shooting stars of the mind
don't pry me open, not here, tonight
Don't pry me open
Don't pry me open
Don't pry...
Don't pry me open
Don't flatter my doubt
I'll speak when I’m ready
to you and nobody else
Oh yes, it gets lonely
living inside a shell
please don't pry me open
may I release in short spells
I'm the same old record groove
I'm the same old tattered shirt
I’m that same old whistle blowing after you
I'm that same old runny nose
I'm that same old poke and gloat
I'm that same old sturdy boat in love with you
Don't pry me open
Don't scatter my cloud
Please don't pry me open
may I release in short spells
it's taken me years
to fight off the fear
of letting another
witness my tears
Don't pry me open
Don't pry me open
Don't pry me open
Don't pry…
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David James Allen Prince Edward, Ontario
David James Allen is a producer, graphic artist, and maker of folk and country songs including those on his new album By The Summertime. He lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada.
David James Allen recommends:
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Doug's one of my favourite Canadian songwriters, you cant go wrong with any one of his albums. Sophisticated and Feel Good. This ones from 2023 & produced by fellow Canadian songsmith Bahamas.
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Newest single from Jon Mckiel.. Feel good warmth, vocal sampling, saxophone, swirling trance. I loved his Bobby Joe Hope album from 2020, really looking forward to this new album HEX! Check it out.
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