Used to Be (album)

by Wes Mantooth

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1.
Open Heart 03:01
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Another night with my guitar and this restlessness inside of me As if I could just capture it Just capture it and set it free As if I could lay words down on it Or chain it to a melody Love is like. . . Sometimes I try to draw a map to lead me back into the past A long trip through the flatlands fields of wheat in Kansas Take it in where I’ve been a few monuments lost in a sea of grass Life is like. . . With an open mouth and no words to sing With an open heart and no gifts to turn you around Another night with my guitar and this restlessness inside of me As if I could just capture it Just capture it and set it free
2.
Used To Be 02:37
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Folks would scurry, jumping to their feet When your fiddle danced and you stomped a beat Booze out back put the devil in their shoes On Saturday night you staked your claim On all his favorite tunes Fingers flying, dust and lightning Wonder how it used to be Wonder how it used to be Hollow body, ringing strings of steel Drumming out a tune on the tractor wheel Da-da-da-da-da Whirling round your easy chair and tugging at your sleeve Watching children come and go and dance among your dreams Children’s children come and go and dance among your dreams Fingers flying, dust and lightning Wonder how it used to be Wonder how it used to be
3.
Still Unbroken 02:59
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I went out to my tractor / It was time to break the fields And there I saw a wild bird / Resting on the wheel I’ll never forget her beauty / As she cleared that wooded rise And never in my life / Have I felt so dissatisfied My plow has turned the topsoil / My ax has cleared the trees But my heart’s still unbroken / Yes, my heart’s still unbroken My heart’s still unbroken / Yes, my heart still wanders free Sometimes I take a notion / To ramble into town Still looking for the woman / Who won’t try to tie me down But I’ll never forget her beauty / As she cleared that wooded rise And never in my life / Have I felt so dissatisfied My cattle behind fences / And my windmill works the breeze But my heart’s still unbroken / Yes, my heart’s still unbroken My heart’s still unbroken / Yes, my heart still wanders free Most days just find me circling round / Working up my land There’s not a soul in this country wide / Who could ever understand And I’ll never forget her beauty / As she cleared that wooded rise And never in my life / Have I felt so dissatisfied My plow has turned the topsoil / My ax has cleared the trees But my heart’s still unbroken / Yes, my heart’s still unbroken My heart’s still unbroken / Yes, my heart still wanders free
4.
Pig's Ankle Rag 02:29
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When you're crossing the street, and you feel a strange beat Well you just put a little wiggle in your hands and your feet Though you're far from the farm, it won't do any harm If you just move a little lazy like a pig from the barn Oh, baby, I know you're not crazy You're just doin' the Pig Ankle Rag Step a little higher, don't you let your feet drag Come on and do a little dance they call the Pig Ankle Rag Oh, baby, I know you're not crazy You're just doin' the Pig Ankle Rag There's a hole in my pants, and I'm too shy to dance So I just do a little wiggle with my tail to the wall Paid my social life dues in my still leather shoes Now it's time for the Pig Ankle Rag Step a little higher, don't you let your feet drag Come on and do a little dance they call the Pig Ankle Rag Oh, baby, I know you're not crazy You're just doin' the Pig Ankle Rag
5.
The Thinnest Veil 02:47
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A song is but the thinnest veil A song is but the thinnest veil A song is but the thinnest veil Between me and you who know me well A song is but the thinnest veil I’m wishing you to tear it down I’m wishing you to tear it down I’m wishing you to tear it down And meet me on our common ground A song is but the thinnest veil Remember when I turned away Remember when I turned away Remember when I turned away Well it’s hurt me more than I can say A song is but the thinnest veil And leaves are falling in the wind Leaves are falling in the wind Leaves are falling in the wind And we may not pass this way again A song is but the thinnest veil And I’m wishing you to tear it down And meet me on our common ground A song is but the thinnest veil A song is but the thinnest veil The thinnest veil. . . The thinnest veil. . .
6.
Fallen Giants 03:13
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On the northwest coast of Washington Where the evergreen meets the salty roar Among the trees a rainy place The town that you call home Where each lost generation is reborn At the Logger’s Bar where you pass some days Old photographs stare from rough-cut walls In black and white a cedar stump is rising proud and grim Upon their work stand fifteen weary men Can you hear the mighty pounding of the waves Slip into the ebbing of the tide Feel the rhythm of the past rise and fall Old rusty teeth on a crosscut saw Take a dirt road off Highway 101 That winds its way among the clearcut hills Ferns and briars lace the work of fallen giants They didn’t leave a thing for you to kill Can you hear the mighty pounding of the waves Slip into the ebbing of the tide Feel the rhythm of the past rise and fall Old rusty teeth on a crosscut saw
7.
Black Pearl 02:09
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Your daddy was a lonesome man Tenor in a country band Loved guitar til he punched his hand Through the windshield of mama’s car You got you wanderlust from him And never left the place you live in Seen him drink his life away You’ll do with yours what you may Black pearl . . . a secret world so tough and beautiful Black pearl . . . a darker flash behind a smile Black pearl . . . your pain’s a grain upon the sands of time Just swallow it and make a black pearl Years of watchin’ from the dark Bands screamin’ through the local bars Jammin’ on your air-guitar With the kids up on the stage Silence hides a buzzing string Loaded spring that no one sees Yet to launch the broken dreams That rise up when you start to sing Black pearl . . . a secret world so tough and beautiful Black pearl . . . a darker flash behind a smile Black pearl . . . your pain’s a grain upon the sands of time Just swallow it and make a black pearl
8.
Ain't No Time 03:07
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There ain’t no time for you, babe Ain’t no time for me Ain’t no time for all the things We never thought we’d need Ain’t no time for finding out Who’s been keeping score Only time for getting out Don’t need this any more There ain’t no place that’s far enough From walls we’ve built between Ain’t no place that’s pure enough From battles we have seen Ain’t no place across the sea A ship can take me to Your heart is miles away from me My heart miles away from you There ain’t no writer good enough To speak this kind of pain Ain’t no words ring true enough When tears fall down like rain Ain’t no song been every played Can show what’s in my mind When gentle love turns hard to hate Time to leave it all behind There ain’t no way of telling, babe Ain’t no way to know Ain’t no way of seeing clear Where things began to go Ain’t no way of mending hurts Been open much too long Don’t wanna feel any worse We’ve done us too much wrong
9.
Good as Gone 03:01
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With your ticket on the table And your suitcase by the door It’s too late now to tell you Things I might have said before And all this time I went along Sure I was the one As good as it gets Now you’re good as gone Standing on the hillside The station’s down below Your train will leave this valley And the only life I’ve known You say this small town just can’t hold you Have you known it all along? As good as it gets Now you’re good as gone Now your letters don’t come often And you say you’re happy there You’ve cast off your country ways Like this coat you used to wear And if you’re not the one for me I will carry on alone As good as it gets Now you’re good as gone
10.
Nameless Cures 03:45
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Everything around us we carried on our backs You and me, we set up camp on the banks of Ramsey’s Draft This valley shelters us from the roles we’ve learned to play Nothing can touch us here but the wind and rain Nameless fears cry out for nameless cures I guess I might call it losing you This world can feel like a tinderbox But tonight the campfire belongs to me and you Honey, I crave times like these, where life is whittled down To only you and me and the stars and the trees And I’ve got the tent all ready, and the river’s flowing steady Baby, it will sing us to sleep Nameless fears cry out for nameless cures I guess I might call it losing you This world can feel like a tinderbox But tonight the campfire belongs to me and you Never lose sight of the mystery of fire The glowing space where we are drawn together So if we burn then let us burn together These nameless fears that cry out for nameless cures I guess I might call it losing you This world can feel like a tinderbox But tonight the campfire belongs to me and you Tonight the campfire belongs to me and you
11.
Remembering Frank 03:25
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Frank could tan a raccoon hide And make a boy a cap that was mighty fine When he spoke, salt and pepper was his only spice And I ate his words with a fork and knife Never had much use for books and such But he gave me tales of a boyhood rough The kid who tried to take him from behind Gave his two front teeth to Frank for a prize Just thinkin’ of the life you spent so free Frank, I’m lookin’ for something of you in me He never prayed or went to church when Sunday’d come He roamed the hills in a sky-blue truck Showed me how to aim a gun Wouldn’t change his clothes for anyone When he learned that he would die so soon I guess he might have cried alone in his bedroom Just thinkin’ of the life you spent so free Frank, I’m lookin’ for something of you in me He set his sights on the core of life And never gave an inch without a damn good fight But soon he didn’t know his own best friends And I watched the spit and tears flow freely down his chin Just thinkin’ of the life you spent so free Frank, I’m lookin’ for you And thinkin’ of the times you gave to me Frank, I know there’s something of you in me When he spoke, salt and pepper was his only spice And I ate his words with a fork and knife

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A selection of original songs written and records in the 1990s

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released December 23, 2023

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Wes Mantooth Kirkland, Washington

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