Get all 12 Andrew McKnight releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Treasures in My Chest, Live: Bound for Glory, Live from the Appalachians to Austin, Sampler Download, One Virginia Night, Something Worth Standing For, 1845, Red-Haired Boy, and 4 more.
1. |
How High the Mountain
03:13
|
|||
|
Words & music A. McKnight, 1999©Catalooch Music, BMI
A cappella Chorus
How high is this mountain, that I've fallen down
how far have I tumbled to be here
how long must I climb, to see sweet sun again
out of this valley of despair
Instrumental intro
Instrumental verse
Chorus
Verse 1
How heavy is the cross, that I'm bound to bear,
how long an uphill march lies ahead,
how will I keep my heart, from turning to stone
lift my face to the light instead
Chorus
Mandolin Verse
Harmonica Verse
Verse 2
How far must I roam, to find the Promised Land,
how many miles more to Calvary
how many lonesome nights, til I find my star
set my course straight and true again
Chorus
Outro
|
||||
2. |
||||
|
Words & music A. McKnight, ©2003 Catalooch Music, BMI
Verse 1
Welcome to my neighborhood, sorry things don't look so good
seems the bottom falls out like each last one did
We harvest wheat, cotton, corn and oil, coax all we can from deep dark soil
Seems each year it's debt and toil that's what grows best
Chorus
Cause these hard times in the heartland, would try the soul of any man
it's hard to think the best we can, ain't enough to make a stand
and hold back hard times in the heartland
Verse 2
When I was young dreamed I'd hop a freight, or float on down New Orleans way
guess roots grow deep just like they say, as years flow by
Birds flock through each fall and spring, wonder what I'd see if I had wings
I hope someday that better things wait way up high
Chorus
Instrumental
Verse 3
The levees hold the water out, but can't hold back the flooding doubt
the river knows the one way route and she don't come back
highway crews plant pavement ribbons in the fields, the plow yields to endless wheels
once our kids find that road, this town's good as gone
|
||||
3. |
Beyond Borders
04:46
|
|||
|
Words & music A. McKnight, ©2003 Catalooch Music, BMI
Verse 1
My travels traverse so much shaky ground,
I am broken but unbowed
Push past the boundary lines that I have drawn
endless frontiers all around
I am present in the future and the past
with open hands and open heart
I feel the thunder-drum within my chest
ready now to do my part
Pre-Chorus
I hear sounds of tongues I do not know
and I feel ancient wisdom gathered around me
from Asia and Africa and Appalachian hills
now I know, that I am not alone
Chorus
Beyond borders, beyond our sight, beyond ourselves
Beyond borders, beyond our sight, beyond ourselves
Verse 2
Rain forest clearings and savannah plains
The noon of time, the dawn of man
mystery running through in threads so strong
magic helix, living strand
Pre-chorus and chorus
Instrumental
Verse 3
I leave humble gifts for those to come
the echoes of our human song,
waymakers wait for me beyond the light
when it's my time, where I belong
|
||||
4. |
Wishing
04:40
|
|||
|
Words & music A. McKnight, ©2003 Catalooch Music, BMI
Verse 1
Condor soars, on outstretched wing,
from that altitude I bet you'd see a lot of funny things
red rock low, neath desert skies
I hope way up there's a place where our souls collide
Verse 2
Gravity, it holds me down,
keeps my orbit safe and low enough to ease the blow when I hit the ground
while angels dance, and prophets laugh
this flightless rustic poet stumbles blindly down the path
Chorus
In the blinking eye where dreams take flight
it's deafening in the quiet under these restless stars so bright
if I wish on their falling light
I'd wish I didn't need to make a wish tonight
Verse 3
Whooping crane, his joyful dance
he's so unaware of all the perils of his new romance
with one wing high, one leg kicks
as ten thousand fathers before guide his way through this
Chorus
|
||||
5. |
My Good Name
05:05
|
|||
|
Words & music A. McKnight, ©2003 Catalooch Music, BMI
Verse 1
Can't escape my footsteps, follow hot on my tail
I'm running to catch my breath, on this long and lonely trail
So many wounds to heal, and old debts to repay
Many broken pieces to lay to rest, but not much more to say
Chorus
I cannot go back, make things the same
that be tantamount to shame
So I'll shoulder my share of burden and blame
and take the good out of my name
Verse 2
Remorse or redemption, one I know, one I seek
One a constant companion, the other I might never meet
Chorus
Interlude
Solo
Verse 3
Take my troubles to the river, push em out in the flow
Let em slip away in silence, and cross over, as I watch them go
Chorus
|
||||
6. |
||||
|
Words & music A. McKnight, ©2003 Catalooch Music, BMI
Verse 1
Nightbird sings its mournful song, rooftop rain lasts too long
droplet drumbeats in my head, with all the words I should have said
Slipped out with my fallen pride, the door I walked out locked behind
though these scraps of grace I've saved, Intention's road is freshly paved
Pre-Chorus
I have found no magic garden wander though I will
there is no land of Eden waiting, over the hill
Chorus
So I'm hiding out here, underneath the moon
I know the light of reckoning is rising soon
Someday they'll tell the tale of this tragic circumstance
the outlaw's last escape, the poet's great romance
Instrumental
Verse 2
no one saw the final stand, no glory blazing at the end
twisted up like Texas wind, all that's left of all I've been
Pre-Chorus
Chorus
|
||||
7. |
Good Things Matter
03:22
|
|||
|
Words & music A. McKnight, ©2003 Catalooch Music, BMI
Verse 1
Rush hour traffic going nowhere, the merge becomes a contact sport
frustrations boiling over, tempers growing short
the suited man bucks the trend at the tollbooth,
lets the grandmother in
he knows the people that we share the road with
have loved ones waiting just like him
Chorus
Good things matter, long after they're done
good things matter, each and every one
good things matter, no matter how small
good things matter to us all
Verse 2
Tear-streaked boy behind the playground fence, teams picked, game in full swing
his braces hold him back from what his glasses show, he is not good at this thing,
but the bigger boy who plays the game with natural skill and grace,
says "here's my bat, take my place"
he knows the final score is more than runs across the plate
by the pinch hitter's smiling face
Chorus
Bridge
linger for the old one's words, let a child know she's been heard
ask a wallflower to dance, give mistakes a second chance
smile at strangers on the street, share the table where you eat
leave the extra change behind, fight fear, be colorblind
a kind word to chase the grey, when things are hard find a way,
it all comes back someday
|
||||
8. |
Atlantis
04:57
|
|||
|
Words & music A. McKnight, ©2002 Catalooch Music, BMI
Verse 1
It is still along the Parkway, beyond the gate the road is closed
winter rain drips on the laurel, fog moves in like ghosts
in the valley below lies a cloud sea, that hides the lake, that hides my home
if you'd had me guess in my childhood, this is not how I dreamed life would go
Chorus
They say Moses raised his hands to part the Red Sea
But even Moses couldn't hold back TVA
From flooding our holler, for the Almighty Dollar
and sink our story far beneath the waves
Verse 2
Engineers said flood would take us, if we didn't build the dam to hold the rain,
but I've confusion swirling round their solutions, to me the end result seems the same
now trophy fish take refuge in the chapel, no sounds of children, hymns or wedding bells
and I wonder if the anglers high above can hear them, I don't think those echoes travel water well
Chorus
Verse 3
Newsman said they might have found Atlantis, shining city deep in ocean blue
I wonder if the natives of that fair town, ever had the chance to feel these things I do
Chorus
It is still along the Parkway, I am leaving on the wings of ghosts
|
||||
9. |
Do You Hear Them?
02:48
|
|||
|
Poem by A. McKnight, ©2003 Catalooch Music, BMI
Do you hear them?
faint like distant thunder
approaching across autumn-grass prairie
dry and waving yellow yielding
as the black mass undulates from eye to horizon
Do you hear them?
Do you hear them?
Sweeping the gently rolling plain
around the down gullies
and dry washes
fleeing the wild calls and fearsome speed
of strange beings;
not man
nor bird
nor beast
but all these creatures combined
the dull thunder of massive motion
ten hundred thousand tons
like lightning fire sweeping the tinder-dry prairie
Do you hear them now?
They are slowing
They are fading
They are close now
Close to the brink
The wildness is slipping and disappearing
Down the dry washes
Tumbling and lost into the river below
Their majesty still ringing on the canyon walls
Do you hear them?
Those who have tamed all in this moment
turn now to their tranquility and travail
forgetting the wild past lost
only to remember it in inconvenience
in its rare eruptions into the irrigated present
the hoofbeats are singular now
sporadic
spread far to the margins
of the wild heart below
But it is still in the land
when the moaning wind dims to a whisper
the sounding memory still beats beneath
brave and willful
do you hear them now?
|
||||
10. |
Rust on My Halo
03:11
|
|||
|
Words & music A. McKnight, ©2003 Catalooch Music, BMI
Chorus
There is rust on my halo, there are stains on my soul
all the lessons I learn so slow, will someday make me whole
Verse 1
See that man, on the side of the road
shoulders bowed under heavy load
praying for change at the stop sign stand
cardboard letters and a soldier's hands
where did I learn not to believe, that he needs love like you and me
Chorus
Verse 2
see that girl, babies in her arms
who's gonna keep them safe from harm
mean streets full of guns and greed
how can she give them what they need
where did I learn not to believe, she needs respect like you and me
Chorus
Verse 3
I was born, to be a man
take my place in the master plan
the stack of things that I've done are good
is a whole lot shorter than the things I should
where did I learn not to believe, there's always hope for you and me
Chorus
|
||||
11. |
Flowers in My Yard
03:27
|
|||
|
Words & music A. McKnight, ©2001 Catalooch Music, BMI
Verse 1
Along the banks of the Big Mon, smokestack sentries arm in arm
the veins ran out and the drugs rushed in, hard times our are constant friend
that pretty bird across the street, monitor manacled to her feet
she won't run she's not got the heart, to quit the cash from the Quicki-Mart
Chorus
River cuts right through our town, you feel it bear down hard,
I still tend the flowers in my yard, I still tend the flowers in my yard
Verse 2
downtown still breathes with the blood, drawn from our immigrant sons
the marquee says it's the heart of town, it's just our favorite bar and lounge
Our veterans rest in neat-laid rows, pray they keep lost miner's souls
Sunday hymns still ring in our ears, but sometimes faith hides in our fears
Chorus
Bridge
The river gives and the flood it takes, our spirit bends but never breaks
sometimes it feels like the ending rope, somehow we keep holding onto hope
Verse 3
The mines still work up north of here, rumor says new jobs next year
we're counting on that Pittsburgh seam, to fuel our fading hopes and dreams
Chorus
|
||||
12. |
When the Maples Turn
03:46
|
|||
|
Words & music A. McKnight, ©2004 Catalooch Music, BMI
Verse 1
I am just a small boy, on my grandmother’s knee
She’s telling me a story, from when she was three
“I have known you all my life” I say, “always you are wise,
but how can you expect me to, believe you were my size”
She holds up the picture, says “look, this child is me
Just the same as you, it’s clear and plain to see”
I reply “I see the difference, and it surely proves me right,
For I live my life in color, there you are in black and white”
Chorus
Golden years go silver like the falling of the leaves
Father Time is always tugging at our sleeve
I know the story winds down, when life’s autumn colors burn
The killing frost not far behind, when the maples turn
Verse 2
The queen of all the nurses, the patriot, the saint,
Lighting matches in dark places, bearing all without complaint
These are her chapters and her verses, from our history
The pages left to come are mostly left to me
Grandmother is quite old now, she’s lived a century
The eyes reflecting my own, no longer know it’s me
I wrestle with the notion, someday I'll know that cage
Once again remembering, she once was my age
Chorus
Verse 3
Flagstaff Arizona, after another show
A young girl shares her story, that reminds me of my own
How it all once seemed so clear, so long before this page
and hear myself saying back, when I was your age
Chorus
|
||||
13. |
Million Miles Together
03:16
|
|||
|
Words & music A. McKnight, ©1999 Catalooch Music, BMI
Verse 1
She drives her El Dorado, convertible with class
they cruise into their twilight, they were both built to last
they once had tight chassises, all sleek and shine
now they don't drive so fast, all they're passing is time
Chorus
They've no need of Beltways, or toll roads to nowhere
go best on blue highways, wind in their blue hair
they look forward to Sundays, and Tuesday bingo hall
an old song on her lips, brings memories of trips, to Niagara Falls
Verse 2
Their engines purr in rythym, steady and stylish as they go
now and then just for kicks, squeal the tires, pull out slow
They've turned a million miles together, most in the rearward looking glass
back when heads turned wherever, they'd cruise on 40-cent gas
Chorus
|
||||
14. |
June Apple
02:57
|
|||
|
None
|
||||
15. |
Alchemy
04:39
|
|||
|
Words & music A. McKnight, ©2004 Catalooch Music, BMI
Verse 1
Skies are clearing, sun streams down
ice is breaking on cold hard ground
perfect geese point in northbound flight
no longer wish I may with all my might
The great storm passes, the flood subsides
all the treasures the tempest hides
precious metals long concealed
forged and tempered newly revealed
Chorus
When two elements bond, as they often do
what makes rare pairs magic, timeless and true
so if touches of silver, someday grace our faces,
there’s no place I’d rather be, than part of this alchemy
Verse 2
Flaring sparks fly on wildfire wind
is it peril or promise as flames rush in
two phoenix rising from smoldering seeds
hard shells gone, leaves just what love needs
Chorus
Fiddle solo
Verse 3
So put that last log, on the fire
let its fading glow warm our desires
we'll let those embers light our sleep
lay us down our dreams to keep
Chorus
|
||||
Andrew McKnight Lincoln
Nationally-acclaimed singer/songwriter and guitarist celebrates rural America, weaves masterfully crafted songs, humorous stories and poetic drama into a musical soundscape sketched with shades of Appalachia, tasteful slide and jazzy blues, feisty anthems, and rustic folk. 5 solo CDs heard on many public & community radio, plus NPR "Art of the Song" & "River City Folk" and XM/Sirius. ... more
Andrew McKnight recommends:
Besides being my bandmate in Beyond Borders, Lisa is an amazing all around talent - singer, songwriter, musician, human. Check out "Camelot" - one of my alltime faves.
go to album
West Virginia Serenade
by Keith & Joan Pitzer
I miss my friend from West Virginia's Cheat River Valley deeply. Thankfully, we have his amazing songs to savor - celebrations of the Mountain State's troubled landscapes. Great guitar & singing!
go to album
Calm Before the Storm
by Nor'easter
Once upon a time in a little town far from the beaten track, we dreamed of hard rock stardom - here's the proof we existed ❤️
go to albumIf you like Andrew McKnight, you may also like:
Pittsburgh artist Merce Lemon makes tender and open-hearted indie pop with echoes of Frankie Cosmos.
go to album
Sweet and honest bedroom pop made with the sparest of instrumentation and topped with poetically melancholy lyrics.
go to album
The Bridge in The Mountain's Hands (A Travelog)
by Haotian
Combining Chinese folk music, ambient, & spoken-word poetry, Haotian has made a gorgeous, enveloping travelogue.
go to album
