1. |
Drive
03:39
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Drive ‘til you find a freeway
The ocean or a mountain
Head east on Sunset Boulevard
And double back on Fountain
And if you find you lose your way
You can consult my Thomas Guide
I would never leave my home
Without it at my side
And there is hardly any reason
Why you would go downtown
The air is thick and brown
And there’s nobody around
The Strip has Tower Records
And Hollywood’s nearby
We can stand outside the Tommy’s
With a side of chili fries
Drive
Drive
The city backs against the hills
Golden legs sprawl in the sea
Gasping as she draws the poison air into her lungs
She looks beautiful to me
And if you say she’s just a freeway
You don’t know her like I do
You have to try out every exit
As you go rollin’ through
And it surely doesn’t matter
If you never see the stars
It takes a thousand miles
Just to find out who you are
Drive
Drive
Drive
Drive
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2. |
Hills of California
04:07
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Just a boy sitting on a wagon
San Gabriel Valley suburb cul-de-sac
Looking at a wall of granite boulders
Davy Crockett cap gun in his lap
Fascinated by the giant mountains
And wondering who he could become
As the Santa Anas whip down through the canyons
Of those Hills of California where I'm from
Hiking up an endless dusty fireroad
Trusty Boy Scout canteen shoulder tied
Looking for the ruins of the railroad
Climbing with his father at his side
Imagining them riding up the mountain
Listening to the steel cable’s hum
Nothing but whistlin’ in the pine trees
Of those Hills of California where I'm from
But the sky is burning crimson fire
Smoke and ashes blocking out the sun
Some say we really don’t belong here
Some say the ending time already has begun
Now these days I live in that hazy valley
Not far from where a young boy rode his bike
I’m walking in the shadows of the mountains
Remembering a father and a hike
You never really see it when it happens
It’s easy to keep the feeling numb
But now I’ve come to understand the meaning
Of those Hills of California where I'm from
I’m beginning to understand the meaning
Of those Hills of California where I’m from
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3. |
Make It Rain
03:22
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They say in every life, a little bit of rain must fall
But it’s been so dry so long, it never seems to rain at all
Make it rain, make it rain,
Let your love pour down on me, make it rain
Everybody loves the sun until the water all runs dry
The hills are turning brown, dust is blowing in the sky
And the love that we once knew, haven’t felt for a long long time
Seems like you don’t know, that inside I’ve been cryin’
Make it rain, make it rain,
Let your love pour down on me, make it rain
And oh, what I’d give just to hear the thunder rolling
And to see the blue skies turn to darkest gray
The smell of the rain on the dusty ground
And to feel the love that used to flow my way
Yesterday
And I’m thinking in my life, the rain is never gonna fall
I went looking for a well, only found this mud-caked hole
Make it rain, make it rain
Make it rain, make it rain
Let your love pour down on me, make it rain
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4. |
Angels Flight
04:27
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Last night I woke to the devil wind
Blowing warm through the pass again
Raymond Chandler followed me downtown
Sipping whisky sodas ‘til the bars close down
Thought I saw an angel in Pershing Square
Pushing a shopping cart in her underwear
Angels Flight
Shine your beacon in the night
In the sky like a lonely satellite
Tonight we’ll ride on Angels Flight
Met Warren Zevon outside the chicken stand
Told me he and Linda are gonna form a band
Going to the canyon, gonna smoke some grass
On the lawn with Morrison and Mama Cass
Gram rode his Harley past the deputy
Heading for that motel room in Joshua Tree
Angels Flight
Shine your beacon in the night
In the sky like a lonely satellite
Tonight we’ll ride on Angels Flight
Standing by the telescope in Griffith Park
Saw the angel rising in a trail of sparks
Far above the haze I watched her fly
Silver wings waving me goodbye
And on the front page of the LA Times
An inventory of the city’s crimes
Angels Flight
Shine your beacon in the night
In the sky like a lonely satellite
Tonight we’ll ride on Angels Flight
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5. |
Goodbye California
03:32
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Goodbye California
I’m leaving you now
I’m headed for a better place I’ve found
The things I loved about you
Have gone missing somehow
Goodbye California, goodbye
Everyday I hear about somebody getting out
It’s just too hard to live here they say
Takes everything they got to pay the rent and gas the car
While everywhere they look they see nothing but decay
Goodbye California
I’m leaving you now
I’m headed for a better place I’ve found
The things I loved about you
Have gone missing somehow
Goodbye California, goodbye
There isn’t any water left, the ground is slowly shifting
There’s people living underneath the highway
There’s fire burning in the hills, the smoke is never lifting
The things we were promised have all gone astray
Goodbye California
And then the winter rains fall upon the sunbaked ground
I see the red sun melting in the water
So many people, so many shades of brown
Your golden pathways lie before my son and my daughter
So goodbye to you leavers
I’ll stay right here where I am
California I will surely try
To live a better life, love my neighbor if I can
Here in California ‘til I die
Goodbye
Goodbye
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6. |
Angels in the Stone
04:08
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Water rushes down the San Lorenzo
Rain has swelled the reservoirs
Breezes in the trees and voices on the wind
I can never be alone
Sheltered by the canyon’s ancient walls,
Hidden from the angry holy wars
I hear the peepers in the pools below
And listen to the angels in the stone
Some say I’m foolish to live out here
At the end of this rutted dusty road
Not much to do and nobody around
You barely get a signal on your phone
But in these violent days and the warming of the earth
I count on the wisdom from before
Walking in the labyrinth and breathing with the wind
And listening to the angels in the stone
Water and wind, insects and soil
We need all she has to get by
No matter how we try we can’t destroy the earth
She will still be here when we are gone
Rich ones make their plans for escaping into space
When everything we need is so close by
And when the noisy sounds of all the men are gone
There still will be angels in the stone
And when the noisy sounds
Of all the men are gone
There still will be angels in the stone
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7. |
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Drove from LA to Reno just to say my goodbye
And for hours on the highway I was tryin’ not to cry
The sun’s softly shining and the cottonwoods sway
But the way that I’m feelin’
It should be raining today
We drove it together, Highway 395
In a rusty Toyota, can’t believe we survived
We were talking and laughing and singing away
Now I feel dark and cloudy
It should be raining today
It should be raining today, not a cloud in the sky
And the sun burns like fire and the blue sky’s a lie
I’ve been nothing but lonely since you passed away
And the way that I’m feelin’
It should be raining today
Now all that you left me is this Gibson Guitar
The one you were picking in that North Hollywood bar
You put it in my hands, and you taught me to play
“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”
It should be raining today
I can feel every mark your fingers left in the wood
And I practice for hours like you told me I should
But I can’t match the rhythm of that lick you would play
And I’m forgetting the chords
It should be raining today
And the way that I’m feelin’
It should be raining today
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8. |
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When I was just a kid
I drove the streets of my town
Didn’t have no AC, we’d crank the windows down
Turn up the radio
Gotta hear that song
Gotta blast it out so everyone can sing along
The other day I took a ride
I put the radio on
Tuned from one end to the other but it seemed that somethin’ had gone wrong
Lots of talk talk talk
Lots of crap I can’t stand
Well I’m sorry but I guess that makes me just a grumpy old man
There’s nothin’ on the radio
There’s nothin’ on the radio
Nothin’ I want to hear
There’s nothin’ on the radio
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Woah woah woah woah
OOOOOhhh
There’s nothin’ on the radio
Well there’s a lot of good music
You can get it online
I got Soundcloud and Bandcamp and Spotify to waste my time
But there was somethin’ kinda special
When it came free on the air
Like a soft summer breeze blowing through my long brown hair
There’s nothin’ on the radio
There’s nothin’ on the radio
Nothin’ I want to hear
There’s nothin’ on the radio
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Woah woah woah woah
OOOOOhhh
There’s nothin’ on the radio
Nothin’ I want to hear
There’s nothin’ on the radio
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9. |
Van Nuys
03:36
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Superman died in Van Nuys last night
In a harsh fluorescent glare
His head face down in discarded clothes
And his feet up in the air
When Superman reached his end
He was living in a tent
Chasing crooks and stopping crime
Don’t pay an LA rent
Superman posed for fans
On Hollywood Boulevard
Working for tips on the Walk of Fame
In a hero’s leotard
A crimson cape and brilliant smile
Hid a frail and hollow frame
Folks all called him Superman
But Christopher was his name
Oh Superman, could you ever really fly
With the poison flowing through your veins
Did the smiling faces of the children
Help you ease the deep and angry pain?
Superman had Kryptonite
And Christopher had meth
So many twisted stories
Some to rehab, some to death
On twenty thousand Instagrams
You can see his shining eyes
But nobody cares out here
When another addict dies.
Superman, could you ever really fly
With the poison flowing through your veins
Did the smiling faces of the children
Help you ease the deep and angry pain?
You can see all the stars as you walk down Hollywood Boulevard Christopher died in Van Nuys last night
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10. |
The Road I Once Traveled
04:46
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Stuck at home, sitting on my own
Nowhere to go now, I got nowhere to go
Same four walls but the highway calls
Break out and be free now,
I know where I would be
Take me back, take me back
Down the road that I once traveled,
The road that I once traveled
Take me back, take me back
Down the road that I once traveled,
The road that I once traveled with you
Think of the time, partners in crime
No one could stop us,
There was no one could stop us
A rented ride, you sittin’ by my side
The endless road before us,
The mountains and the forests
Take me back, take me back
Down the road that I once traveled,
The road that I once traveled
Take me back, take me back
Down the road that I once traveled,
The road that I once traveled with you
Guess I was takin’ you for granted
Even though I thought I loved you well
I never had the words to offer
To let you understand just how hard I fell
Now I stand, paper map in my hand
The new road lies before me
So many roads before me
Still I’m sad, thinking ‘bout what I had
That old familiar highway,
And you here right beside me
Take me back, take me back
Down the road that I once traveled
The road that I once traveled
Take me back, take me back
Down the road that I once traveled
The road that I once traveled with you
The road that I once traveled with you
The road that I once traveled with you
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11. |
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Heading west Sunday morning from Alhambra
On the wide open highway into town
The empty buildings seem to be whispering to me
Even though there’s nobody around
I still can’t understand why you’re not with me
And I don’t know where I’m going on this drive
The sun is in the sky, and I’m still feeling high
Livin’ on both sides of the 5
A model walks her boxer on the boardwalk
By an old man holding out his hand
She looks past him at the fog on the water
Remembering a young girl on the sand
And outside the banh mi shop in Temple City
A baker sips a cup of coffee to revive
The morning sun beats hard upon the asphalt
Livin’ on both sides of the 5
There’s a million broken hearts in the city
Each one searching for a way to mend
Everybody here has got a story
Everybody here is wishing they could find a friend
It would take me much more than one lifetime
Just to try to understand all that’s around
There’s so much I’ll never know I’m going with the flow
Learning how the love the things I’ve found
And I remember all those mornings you were with me
And I’m lucky that I got out alive
There’s a emptiness inside that I never could abide
Livin’ on both sides of the 5
Livin’ on both sides of the 5
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Mike Berman Los Angeles, California
Rooted in the folk-rock sound of California, Mike paints pictures and tells stories through his songs. Mike’s sound takes its inspiration from the music he grew up with -- The Byrds, Jackson Browne, Carole King, and Bakersfield heroes like Merle Haggard. His album, Where I’m From (1/23) presents an artist who’s come a long way to find his voice and is ready to offer it to the world. ... more
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