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about

Townes Van Zandt struggled with alcohol and heroin addiction all his life, and his Rake is a prisoner of his own past. When a rake gets elected President of the USA, the song is a useful reminder that all things pass. I have softened the song a little to make it mildly less offensive, but it remains a mysterious, melancholy and curiously moral warning.

lyrics

Well, I used to wake
and run with the moon
I lived like a rake and a young man
I covered (courted) my lovers
with flowers and wounds (words)
my laughter the devil would frighten.
The sun, she would come
and beat me back down
but every cruel day had its nightfall
I'd welcome the stars
with wine and guitars
full of fire and forgetful

My body was sharp, the dark air clean
and outrage my joyful companion
whisperin' women
how sweet did they seem
kneelin' for me to command them
And time was like water
but I was the sea
I wouldn't have noticed it passing
except for the turnin'
of night into day
and turnin' of day into cursin'

You look at me now
and don't think I don't know
what all your eyes are a sayin'
Does he want us to believe
these ravings and lies
they're just tricks that his brain's been a playin'?
A lover of women
he can't hardly stand
he trembles he's bent and he's broken
I've fallen it's true
but I say unto you
hold your tongues until after I've spoken


I was takin' my pride
in the pleasures I'd known
I laughed and said I'd be forgiven
but my laughter turned 'round
eyes blazin' and said my
friend, we're holding a wedding
I buried my face
but it spoke once again
the night to the day we're a bindin'
and now the dark air
is like fire on my skin
and even the moonlight is blinding

credits

from Heavy Duty - Ballads of the Unfree, released February 1, 2018
Townes van Zandt

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Bill Lloyd Kendal, UK

Bill Lloyd is a folk singer and multi-instrumentalist from the Lake District in northern England. He plays 5 string banjo and Galician gaita bagpipes, uilleann pipes and whistles, He is a versatile singer in the ‘high lonesome’ mountain style, delicate ballads, and ‘come-all-ye’ folk styles. Bill is an experienced storyteller, compere, music promoter, record producer and festival organiser. ... more

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