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Nothing Stays The Same Way For Long

by Steve Wallis

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1.
The loneliest that you can be is when you are in love With someone who doesn’t want the same thing that you want And you might try to change them, and one day you’ll give up The loneliest that you can be is when you are in love The loneliest you’ll ever feel is knowing it’s too late And maybe that your strategy of hoping things would change Is just another entry in your long line of mistakes The loneliest you’ll ever feel is knowing it’s too late I watch this old town Run down to the water All of the lights are coming on In all of those houses Blessed with sons and daughters Slowly growing up Once I thought the loneliest were running wild and free Until I learned the hard way that darling, actually It’s when you’re two but only one is wishing you were three Once I thought the loneliest were running wild and free I watch this old town Run down to the water All of the lights are coming on In all of those houses Blessed with sons and daughters Slowly growing up The loneliest that you can be is when you are in love
2.
Mary 04:25
I’ve got a place down by the shore I’ve got a bottle of wine and no glasses for it I’ve got a sore heart I’ve got a bad head Since you stopped laying next to me Mary Walking around taking up Space on the sidewalk Looking for someone to throw me a line Since I lost my Mary I’m Just looking for a little company I’ve got a trunk with all of my things in it I’ve got a bed on the floor at my best friends I’ve got a sore heart I’ve got a bad head Since you stopped waking up with me Mary Walking around taking up Space on the sidewalk Looking for someone to throw me a line Since I lost my Mary I’m Just looking for a little company I’ve got a place down by the shore I’ve got a bottle of wine and no glasses for it I’ve got a sore heart I’ve got a bad head Since you stopped laying next to me Mary Walking around taking up Space on the sidewalk Looking for someone to throw me a line Since I lost my Mary I’m Just looking for a little Since I lost my Mary I’m Just looking for a little company
3.
Amsterdam 04:01
On the train to Amsterdam Stopping now in Rotterdam I guess I should give a damn I’m leaving on my own We just had the summertime Now there's trouble on your mind And a distance in your eyes That sinks me like a stone Cause love is just a choice to make, babe And every choice is hard until it ain't But if you ask me darlin There's no such thing as fate Love is a choice you have to make With all the things to sing about Most days I can't make a sound I just sit and think about Things I'll never do I can hear the silver bells Ringing down the old canals I don't think that I have ever Truly been this blue Cause love is just a chance to take, babe And hope it treats you kind along the way Cause if you ask me darlin Noone can rig the game Love is just a chance you have to take Well, winter melts to honeyed Spring Colours all the people in I feel the planet start to spin Maybe I'll survive And one day soon I'll wind those stairs I hope I'll find you standing there With sunlight tangled in your hair An answer in your smile Cause love is just a choice to make, babe And every choice is hard until it ain't But if you ask me darlin There's no such thing as fate Love is just a choice you have to make Love is just a choice you have to make
4.
Her Name 03:59
Another Sunday morning spent laying in your bed Watching as the curtains painted flowers on your legs But there’s no rest for the wicked, you made that coffee strong And we ran out into the world thinking nothing could go wrong We were kissing at the station when someone called your name And you didn’t introduce me but I caught that look he gave you I watched you try to hide it but it was written on your face I guess everyone’s got secrets and I learned I was yours that day But I’ll stop dwelling on the things that I can’t change Sometimes love is better when it fades But a little part of my heart still always breaks When I hear someone calling her name “Can I see you on the weekend?” is all your message said And I stared at it a long time before I sent back yes And we got drunk at Lefty’s dancing to the band Until you got us both kicked out hell here we go again You said you knew a party and as you led me there That maybe that you loved me and it was more than you could bear And there’s a billboard by the river that says “Love’s a magic spell” I guess it wore off at that party when you left with someone else But I’ll stop dwelling on the things that I can’t change Sometimes love is better when it fades But a little part of my heart still always breaks When I hear someone calling her name When I hear someone calling her name
5.
The Wolf 02:52
Once I played in a rock & roll band Once I hit the road and I never looked back And never once I thought to ask Did it mean something that all my heroes drank themselves to death? I just played their songs, and sometimes had A few too many beers after my set Cause Hell, I deserved it I deserved it But there's a darkness that lures you in In a painted smile it'll call you a friend But it's the Wolf and you're the Lamb And I let it take every goddamn thing I had And when I'd driven off the last of my friends And I had nothing left to give I told myself I deserved it I deserved it But that was all before Now I sit and watch the roses bloom by our front door Cause you let me see A second chance is just the start of what forgiveness really means And I'm not promising that I'll ever be perfect But I married you in Spring And every morning now I wake up there beside you And I look at the ring And I’ll try to deserve it To deserve it
6.
I was singing for my supper in a bar called The Davy Lamp When Blue eyed Annie came waltzing in with a feather in her cowboy hat I knew I was in trouble by the end of the second verse The way she was smiling at me, I forgot all the words Blue eyed Annie Oh Lord you’re pretty But I think your boyfriend wants to hit me If you don’t stop looking at me like that An hour later and I’m at the bar, I guess I’m buying her a drink Whiskey and water when she takes a sip She rests her head on my chest I take a deep breath and ask myself How am I getting out of this mess? I curse my lucky stars Blue eyed Annie Oh Lord you’re pretty But your boyfriend definitely wants to hit me Cause you won't stop looking at me like that Well that’s all’s fair man, this is love and war But why does that bastard have to be seven feet tall? That really don’t seem fair man… Well bruises heal and broken hearts they’ll mend So I’ll take my chances on this road to Hell Blue eyed Annie, keep looking at me like that Bruises heal and broken hearts they’ll mend So I’ll take my chances on this road to Hell Blue eyed Annie, keep looking at me like that Blue eyed Annie, keep looking at me like that
7.
I drive out to the edge of town I turn the engine off and watch the water Here the river's wide and deep All that water, running on and onwards I keep having the same dream Where I let that current carry me Far away from everything I know I just think about that feeling Until I turn the engine on and I drive home Cause you wouldn't believe How much time you can waste Trying to leave if it's easier to stay They say a watched pot never boils Boy, I never even lit the flame You wouldn't believe How much time you can waste Waiting for someday But time is like that river too Winding on it's one year then another It fills your mouth full of excuses Tells you that you're happy with your lot here Now I'm standing in my kitchen Staring out the window Watching sparrows catching tiny butterflies Trying hard to listen to the voice down in my heart The only one that still knows when I'm lying Cause you wouldn't believe How much time you can waste Trying to leave if it's easier to stay They say a watched pot never boils Boy, I never even lit the flame You wouldn't believe How much time you can waste Waiting for someday Waiting for someday Waiting for someday
8.
There's memories strung up like dew drops On spider webs in the spring Evaporated by daytime But at first light they're shimmering Like I remember, you were holding your breath When you put your hands into mine And carefully lifting your dress up over your hair You couldn't stop smiling They're all just little pearls of water All strung on a line They're all just little pearls of water There's memories falling like rain drops Hammering down on the tin And I can't speak over the sound of All those dumb things I did Too drunk at the concert, a staggering king Believing in all my own lies Cause too much attention might make a man think He can take what he wants without paying the price They're all just little pearls of water That keep falling all night They're all just little pearls of water Your twenties will tell you It's be in love or be free But I swear I never felt freer Than when you were singing with me There's memories hiding in teardrops That blur the ink on the page Now, when I read the words back to me All the meaning has changed Cause we're all given chances That we know won't happen twice That night you took me dancing You were saying goodbye They're all just little pearls of water Gone in the blink of an eye They're all just little pearls of water They're all just little pearls of water
9.
Now I Don't 04:04
As a boy, I believed That the nuclear plant was the factory Where they made all the clouds Cause I could see them all floating out So I believed But now I don’t Now I don't Now I don’t And my darling girl, what did we see? Pink flamingos in a corn field You were crying out We were crying out I thought the world was ours I thought world was ours But now I don’t Now I don't Now I don’t Now I don’t Now I don’t From the corner of that tiny balcony You could look out across the town past the cemetery Watch them all go to work Till the day they’re all laid to rest I thought that I was different But now I don’t Now I don't Now I don't Now I don't Now I don't And my darling girl You grew up without me Still I see you visit You sit so quietly And darling I’m sorry And I worried That you would be alright, yeah I worried But now I don’t
10.
If I sit here any longer I might turn to stone Just a statue of an arsehole staring at his phone Cause I've been here for hours and it's plain to see That dollar beers and Instagram make for shitty company And I'm so tired of this rut I'm in It's high time I finally change something Starting tomorrow If I sit here any longer I might fall asleep And the man who runs the bar will come and drag me to my feet So I'll pay my tab and go Buy another can and drink it while I'm walking home And I'm sorry, I know, I'm drinking too much I promise I'm gonna quit the stuff Starting tomorrow Cause everyday's the same So what's the difference between starting today And starting tomorrow? Sometimes I sit and try to fade away Getting older ain't much fun if you don't like who you became Cause I'm just trying to find a way To be more than just a list of all the habits I can't break And I close my eyes I take a sip I raise a glass to cowardice And say starting tomorrow And in the morning I'll wake up and say Starting tomorrow Every morning I wake up and say Starting tomorrow Starting tomorrow
11.
I found a little piece of heaven I wrapped it in a cloth I slipped it in my pocket That valley in the sun I carry it around with me Whenever I feel lost I found a piece of heaven And I wrapped it in a cloth Fishing in that black lake I think I caught the moon It was round like yellow butter It was smooth like a river stone It was heavy as the tape hiss Before the guitars bloom Fishing in that black lake I think I caught the moon Those days Those days never really end If we can keep the fire lit If we keep singing into it It might never fade But we, we get older all at once Before you notice it's all gone And then you'll know That nothing stays the same way for long Time is slick like oil Time melts away like snow It's a sunset in the mountains It's friends you used to know It's all these goddamn hours I've spent Locked inside my home Time is slick like oil It melts away like snow Those days Those days never really end If we can keep the fire lit If we keep singing into it It might never fade But we, we get older all at once Before you notice it's all gone And then you'll know That nothing stays the same way for long

credits

released September 16, 2022

All songs by Steve Wallis
Produced by Joe Boon & Steve Wallis
Recorded and Mixed by Joe Boon
Mastered by Doug Van Sloun at Focus Mastering

Cover photos by Deborah Lesage
Design/Layout by Steve Wallis and Karen Wallis

Thank you: Deborah. Joe, Bryony and Kara. Bruce. Joey, Kenneth and the Sad Songs Summer Camp family.

Steve Wallis: vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano
Joe Boon: vocals, guitar, drums, bass, piano, juno, mellotron
Bryony Lewis: vocals (2,3,8,9,11)
Kara McKee: vocals (1,7,8,11)
Dan Walker: reed organ (5)
MorganEve Swain: violin (5)
Jon Graboff: pedal steel (7)
Bruce King: saxophone (8)

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Steve Wallis Paris, France

Steve Wallis writes honest, clear eyed folk songs, driven by his shrewd fingerstyle guitar, and his wry gift for finding joy in the melancholy. His songs are old letters from ex lovers, regrets folded into fond souvenirs, that final glance back before rushing onwards.

In 2018, Steve's song 'Melbourne Rain' reached new success after it was featured in PS4 game Detroit: Become Human.
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