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Unravel

by The Simple Joy

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1.
Triple-Double 04:45
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Momma always told me Be careful of the girls Who dance fast and live faster Leave your head all a-twirl She might not have known it But she coulda been talking ‘bout you Cause you never took just one step When you could get away with two I fell for your triple-time feet and your double-timing heart Every new man you meet's another chance to tear me apart Each day I dream of leaving you, give myself a new chance But with my last dying breath, I know I’d just ask you to dance I first saw you spinning At the Armory that night Your hair streamin’ out sideways Feet too fast for sight When you finally slowed down So I could look into your eyes My head was screamin’ momma’s words But my heart had … notions otherwise I fell for your triple-time feet and your double-timing heart Every new man you meet's another chance to tear me apart Each day I dream of leaving you, give myself a new chance But with my last dying breath, I know I’d just ask you to dance Wish i knew the answer to Why i let you pull my world apart I got tied up in your triple-time feet And undone by your double-timin’ heart Momma always told me Be careful of the girls Who dance fast and live faster Leave your head all a-twirl All your fancy steppin Just leads to you steppin out And now I wish I'd heeded My mother’s … wise words of doubt I fell for your triple-time feet and your double-timing heart Every new man you meet's another chance to tear me apart Each day I dream of leaving you, give myself a new chance But with my last dying breath, I know I’d just ask you to dance
2.
Nobody's Fault 03:53
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It started with a summer of infatuation Both of us bowled over by the total elation Cupid shot his arrow and it found its station But it ended in tears and recrimination You were jealous and i was needy Should have built foundation but we were greedy We had more booby traps than the Versailles Treaty So when the end came it was bloody and speedy Let’s just say it was nobody’s fault Hot and messy as summer asphalt Trying to sow each other’s feels with salt Let’s just say it was nobody’s fault We weaponized one another’s pleasure Control not joy as love’s true measure Hiding from each other the maps to our treasure Tallying up the score like an accountant’s ledger Let’s just say it was nobody’s fault Hot and messy as summer asphalt Trying to sow each other’s feels with salt Let’s just say it was nobody’s fault We were young and we were stupid Took something sweet and made it putrid How do you pervert sweet little Cupid By acting the kind of assholes that me and you did You said come over i said try to make me You reach a hand out and you try to wake me You do your damnedest but you’ll never slake me You say you love me but you kind of hate me Let’s just say it was nobody’s fault Hot and messy as summer asphalt Trying to sow each other’s feels with salt Let’s just say it was nobody’s fault Let’s just say it was nobody’s fault Let’s just say it was nobody’s fault
3.
Circus In Your Head 03:31
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Well my mother woke me early Had to jerk us out of bed "I could hear your evil dreamin There’s a circus in your head" Well my father had his belt off Took us out behind the shed "There’s no other explanation There’s a circus in your head" I was sad i was lonely i was always confused I was feeling new and different types of deep down blues I was looking for love in all the wrong places Looking for love in all the deeply wrong faces Called my doctor said "your mind’s broke Got to get you on some meds Ain’t no better way to fix it Get that circus out your head Here’s a bottle, reach your hand in Take some blues and grab some reds But the green ones kick the most back Love that circus in your head"
4.
Avalon 05:27
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Walking on the beach on a mid-August night Phosphorescence was the only light Avalon took my hand and she showed me way She said our love is barely started but the summer’s nearly gone Want to feel that life’s for living while my body is still young Take me back to school and I fear I’ll lose my way Avalon, o Avalon, My mind is made up but my money’s all gone Avalon, won’t you run away with me Around the corner by the lighthouse where the cutters used to smoke Had to beg, borrow and bleed and steal for one forgotten toke Avalon whispered her idea for how we’d get away I learned to hotwire a car when I was just 13 years old Used to take em down to Myrtle Beach where we know they could get sold I had that baby flying in a minute and man we were away Avalon, o Avalon, My mind is made up but my ideas are all gone Avalon, won’t you run away with me Love is like a midnight tide Can’t always see nothing but it’ll take for a ride Love is like the wave you never seen Coming, coming Sheriff pulled me over, took me down to spend the night Avalon was waving 'neath the sodium vapor light I knew I’d never see her as she blew a kiss and turned away She said I love you like forever but forever never stays Wanna pack a lot of living into a small number of days Gonna take a ride to Memphis with a man who will show me the way Avalon, o Avalon, My mind is messed up cause my honey’s all gone Avalon, why’d you run away from me Avalon, o Avalon, My money’s made up and my mind is all wrong Avalon, don’t you run away from me Avalon, don’t you run away Avalon, don’t you run away Avalon, don’t you run away from me Avalon, don’t you run away Avalon, don’t you run away Avalon, don’t you run away from me from me, from me, from me
5.
I Would Come Running 03:46
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Before the justice of the peace I said I love you You said "that ain't enough to get my 'I do' I spent forty dollars on this hairdo And I'm not even really sure that I like you" But I would come running And I would come willing And I would come grinning back to you On the morning of that first day down in Cabo When I got sick off camerones el diablo You took a liking to the boy del cabana And ended up by peeling his banana But I would come running And I would come willing And I would come grinning back to you My friends all told things i probably already knew But even they were shocked we didn’t make it thru our honeymoon All your love for me could fit into a tablespoon But like that dog I’d still jump over the moon for you We came we saw we scattered Lost the only battle that mattered My heart is bloodied torn apart and tattered Like all those china wedding plates you shattered But I would come running And I would come willing And I would come grinning back to you But while I would come running And I would come grinning I still think I'm winning without you
6.
Until 04:02
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Try to stay up while you’re falling down Try to hide away in the middle of this town Gotta go fast and go faster still My breath is holding just waiting until… One day, you’ll come around now Make me into your sacred cow Until that day i’m up the creek Tryin’ to paddle faster than the tears down my cheek… Until… Until… Try to stay up while you’re sliding down A smile painted over carved lines of my frown Chasing your love is the bitterest pill Falling farther behind and can’t catch up until… One day, you’ll come around Re-paint my face as a new kind of clown Until that day i’m up the creek Tryin’ to paddle faster than the tears down my cheek… Until… Until… Until… You look at me Like a dying thing That’s been left too long In the sunshine Meet me out On the edge of dreams Lie to me, tell everything will be fine Try to stay up while you’re falling behind I see this going well in the better parts of my mind Meanwhile I wait for you to come in for the kill Full of trepidation but still hoping until… One day, you’ll come around Re-paint my face as a different kind of clown Until that day i’m up the creek Tryin’ to paddle faster than the tears down my cheek… One day, you’ll come around now Make me into your sacred cow Until that day i’m up the creek Tryin’ to paddle faster than the tears down my cheek… Until… Until… Until… Until…
7.
Over You 03:58
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There was a time when I fell lonely Sent away from my one and only Waiting for your heart to change its mind And call me back into your… I was a wreck and I was reckless Faithless heedless mean and feckless I was only in it for The way you made me feel and I wish Someone had told me what I squandered Someone had taken my trash heart and laundered Someone had told what I was throwing When I was throwing over you I --- I -- I ------- I I -- will never get over get over get over you Years gone by and I’m worse than lonely I see you out with your one and only That could me neath your radiant shine But it’s his arms around you instead of mine If only i’d seen the mistakes I was making So much more than two hearts I was breaking Someone had shown me my blow-torched future And that I would never get over you I --- I -- I ------- I I -- will never get over get over get over you If only .... Someone had told me what I squandered Someone had taken my trash heart and laundered Someone had told what I was throwing When I was throwing over you I --- I -- I ------- I I -- will never get over get over get over you Get over you Over you Over you I never get over get over I’m not over you
8.
Vows 03:24
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I, I still want you and I, I still need you I Try not to bleed you out Dry but I feel like I'll Die if I leave you so I'll Fly to be near you and Cry when I hear you don’t Mind if I never sur vive never seeing your smile and you forget after a while that I am still owed this by you I owe you, i owe you, I owe you, i owe you I owe you, i owe you I owe you, i owe you Nothing that you don't owe me too I, I still want you and I, I still need you I Try not to bleed you out Dry but I feel like I'll Die if I leave you so I'll Fly to be near you and Cry when I hear you don’t Mind if I never sur vive never seeing your smile and you forget after a while that I am still owed this by you One day you will under stand me. You will not com mand me. You will not de mand of me. How dare you ever repri mand me. How could you ever stand me. Look at all that you planned for me. I owe you, i owe you, I owe you, i owe you I owe you, i owe you I owe you, i owe you Nothing that you don't owe me too Nothing that you don't owe me too Nothing that you don't owe me too
9.
Everything But The Cost 04:18
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I saw the way that you looked at me When the ship went down Like the weight of the world’s expectation In one single twisted up frown You act as though your face was scarred By the wedding rice But it’s just the pocks and divots Of too many years and not enough nice So now i’m walking backwards and running away From these indoor gladiator grounds with too many words but nothing to say Swing the sword and hope there’s nothing still worth getting lost Cause we’ve played the game badly and lost everything but the cost I thought that I knew of all the ways To screw myself up But the poison that’s been eating me Was already down in my cup So now i’m walking backwards and running away From these indoor gladiator grounds with too many words but nothing to say Swing the sword and hope there’s nothing still worth getting lost Cause we’ve played the game badly and lost everything but the cost Round and round this string of posies My mouth filled up with ash We all fall down in a heap together Our tangled limbs a sour mash So now i’m walking backwards and running away From these indoor gladiator grounds with too many words but nothing to say Swing the sword and hope there’s nothing still worth getting lost Cause we’ve played the game badly and lost everything but the cost We’ve lost everything but the cost We’ve lost everything but the cost Cause we’ve played the game badly and lost everything but the cost
10.
Clarksville 04:45
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Some call it Kerr Lake, some call it Bugg’s Island Good place to go when you are a-whiling Marking time, milking time Waiting for your bucket of lime in Clarksville, in Clarksville When you got beers and you got time to kill My daddy took me fishin there, My grandpa’d come too We’d open Granny’s ham biscuits and every argument they’d ever been through How my grandpa was too hard and my dad was too soft How he’d run up to the city taking everything he'd ever been taught in Clarksville, in Clarksville When you got beers and you got time to kill On the way of town my daddy’d always tell me "Had to get outta this place or it would have killed me Don’t mean i don’t love my Mom and even my Daddy too I just wanted something better And bigger for me and for you than Clarksville, than Clarksville" When you got beers and you got time to kill My grandpa went and died And you’ve never seen such a sad face As my daddy went and tried To eulogize a soul and place The preacher spittin fire Sulfur brimstone hell and hate My daddy talked of a love that won’t tire And said a prayer to have just one more day Where he’d take his daddy fishin and his kid would come, too They’d open Momma’s ham biscuits and arms and hearts to to show our love was true in Clarksville, in Clarksville When you’ve got years and you’ve got a mind to In Clarksville, in Clarksville When you’ve got years and you’ve got a mind to
11.
If Your Soul Costs Nothing 03:58
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Neither borrower or lender be When Satan is a-buying No borrower nor lender When Satan is a-buying Forget the legal tender When Satan is a-buying If your soul costs nothing It’s still free Hold onto your heart When Satan comes a-callin Hold onto your heart When Satan comes to call Keep an empty shopping cart When Satan’s in the mall Filled with naught but love For all to see Neither borrower or lender be When Satan is a-buying No borrower nor lender When Satan is a-buyin Forget the legal tender When Satan is a-buying If your soul costs nothing It’s still free Careful you’re not tempted to follow Old Nick’s way Take heart, and let your soul and love hold sway Hell is full of dangerous snares and fiery blind pits So let that burning red goat-horned bastard take the hind bits Keep your wallet on its chain When Satan’s pickin pockets Keep your wallet on its chain When Satan’s pickin pockets To some ways to see it’s plain But not all kinds of eyes have sockets There are so many Other ways to see Neither borrower or lender be When Satan is a-buying No borrower nor lender When Satan is a-buying Forget the evil tender When Satan is a-buying If your soul costs nothing It is free If your soul costs nothing It is free If your soul costs nothing It is free
12.
Now I 03:53
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When I was wise Cut my teeth on suicide When I found hope Sought no solace in a hangman’s rope Now I’m living on the wrong side of town and my Heart is hidden six feet below ground and I Asked your Ma she says you can’t be found so I Keep following your ghost all around all around Til I found you Had no notion of the depth of blue But in your eyes I’d happily forever capsize Now I’m living on the wrong side of town and my Heart is hidden six feet below ground and I Asked your Ma she says you can’t be found so I Keep following your ghost all around all around Now I’m home Faced with the horror of being alone Now I’m home Half-way wishin’ that i had never known you When I lost faith Was when knew you were in a grave No more lies to tell So I’ll ride this rope to hell Now I’m living on the wrong side of town and my Feet are planted six feet below ground and I Asked your Ma she says you can’t be found so I Keep following your ghost all around all around all around all around
13.
Haze 04:58
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We used to get out of school at one o’clock If the temperature got too damn hot So we’d spend each morning rooting For the temp to top 95 My boys and I we could run So we’d make a bee-line for the sun Take a bunch of Coors Lite And head down above the dam There was girls and there was swimming A big rope swing on the other side You could get big air into the river If you could make it over there alive Those were the days It wasn’t always wine and roses More often Mad Dog and No Doze’s But those were the days Sneaking a cooler down by the dock And just enjoying our bodies and our Haze It was a half-mile across the river Even if it didn’t look that far And it was slightly upstream all the way When you were trying to get back to your car After a long afternoon of drinking And lyin in that sun We all felt pretty invincible But it was easier said than done But those were the days It wasn’t always wine and roses More often Mad Dog and No Doze’s But those were the days Sneaking a cooler down by the dock And just enjoying our bodies and our Haze The last time I made that river swim I brought my little brother so I could show to him This is how we do it when they Let us out of school I dared him race back across with me But I was near a man and he was 13 I’d give back every day since then To put me back at lunch that day Because those were the days It wasn’t always wine and roses More often Mad Dog and No Doze’s But those were the days Sneaking a cooler down by the dock And just enjoying our bodies and our Haze Our haze... haze...
14.
If I Could 03:32
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If i could, i would give you the world with the space and time to travel If i could, i would give you the Lord with her mysterious love unraveled Go forward my boy and my girl Make your own bright way in this dingy old world Go forward my girl and my boy Don’t settle for anyone else’s idea of joy It’s not the time nor the place that i’d choose for my son nor my daughter to belong to Hear my prayer that i make for my little ones for the strength to smite who has wronged you Go forward my boy and my girl Make your own bright way in this dingy old world Go forward my girl and my boy Don’t settle for anyone else’s idea of joy You can forgive and forget You can learn to get by You can turn a cheek To all the world’s giving It’s what I’ve always done And that’s my little lie It’s called dying by degrees While you’re living Go forward my boy and my girl Make your own bright way in this dingy old world Go forward my girl and my boy Don’t settle for anyone else’s idea of joy If i could, i would give you the world with the space and time to travel If i could, i would give you the Lord with her mysterious love unraveled

about

Unravel is the first album by The Simple Joy. We started working on it in early 2020, but due to limitations and complications caused by the COVID pandemic, it took nearly two years to record and nearly three to finish; but we're proud of these songs and happy to have gotten to take our time to make them sound their best.

Unravel is a thoroughly Durham, NC record, with all of the band members living in the city and all part of its vibrant music family. The entire creation of the album happened here -- from the songwriting, to the rehearsals, to the recording (in Emily Musolino's Blue Moose Studios), to mixing and mastering (by James Phillips), to the photography (by Kendall Bailey at the Eno River) -- it was all conceived and constructed in our town, with the help of the incredible music community here.

credits

released September 29, 2023

All songs written and arranged by The Simple Joy, which is: Stephen Munoz, Michael Lowry, Pam McCarthy, Tuck Satterfield

Lyrics by Tuck Satterfield

Matt Douglas featured on "Triple-Double" (horns)
Emily Musolino featured on "Avalon" (harmony vocals)

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The Simple Joy Durham, North Carolina

The Simple Joy writes and performs original roots-rock music, playing lyric-driven tunes all around their hometown of Durham, NC. Their vocal harmonies and varied instrumentation hint at the band’s collective musical tastes and can sound like rock, alt-country, blues, folk, and bluegrass — sometimes all in the same song! ... more

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