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Tongues Of Fire

by Joseph Huber

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1.
Well, here I go again, my friend, I'm just three sheets to the open wind. Now i got to settle in and down to this little world. I done fell out of the race The sun and moon switched their place, Now I gotta switch to a slower pace And all for that little girl. I fell off the wagon, I let my high horse run. Lord, she put me to the test That little girl with the red dress on. Now my whole wide world Is caught up in a big ol' whirl, Now I'm running ragged. Lord, I fell off the wagon again. I seen far and I seen wide, I'm just a picture from Iife's other side and my hands don't quite clean to white From that other world. I'll tell you now, this I know Talk is cheap, and lies are gold If they get you in out of the cold And back to me little girl. CHORUS Well theres just one thing Ill ask of you Keep pulling my leg so that I pull through Cause its the one leg i got to stand onto To save my little world. You might say I'm doin good But I'm long way from out of the woods From trading things I do for things I should All for that little girl. CHORUS
2.
All these tears running down our head, Can't take away all the things we said. What we were seems as good as dead As the world around you weeps. Here we stand and there we run Between things past and thing yet undone Maybe all we ever had was fun And that ain't playin' for keeps. Thought I'd hear you'd be doin' fine. With your heart no longer mine. But the years, no they weren't to kind. No, they weren't so sweet. Thought I'd hear you'd be doin' fine. With your heart no longer mine. But your dreams, like mine, reside Where the shadows shiver to sleep. Words you spoke were always fine, Though you sang out of tune and out of time. I could never get myself to mind. I just had to be near her. Sun shone bright upon her face. No dim barroom could steal it away. We lit the night in it's tightest space With her face like a pale moon mirror.
3.
I've been working my way to the center of the wheel I've been working my way west between two thin lines of steel I got a hole in each pocket and another in my heel. From singin and dancin' for a dollar and a meal. I step out on the sidewalk, the concrete's gettin' cold. The red lights and the green lights all turn to flashin' gold. I got one more call from home telling me I'm gettin' old. But I still got a tune or two down here in my soul. And a drop in the bucket is all I need To get on home, and back on my feet. I've been out on the street, just tryin' to earn a dime. Well, a drop in the bucket is all I'll be, So hammer down on the banjo strings, And open up this empty street, just to try and earn a dime. Well, the street lights a'flicker and the flys gather 'round. While the poor folks gather 'round that high-lonesome sound. I wish I was the light, but my feet are on the ground. So, I'll just keep on sliding right in and out of town. Throw down your quarters and let me be your well. I'd be a mighty fine one as far as I can tell. With a bucket full of dreams, all forgotten once they fell. For the things that you can't buy, and a song I'll never sell.
4.
I'm goin' down to the ol' black river, goin down to the river tonight. I ain't talking about feeling tired. Let's go on down to that ol black river, raise a ruckus with me tonight, I've been walkin, and I'm feelin' wired. I been shakin' like a madman, your shakin' like a leaf, But baby don't be afraid, Pop the top off that bottle, I ain't askin you please, Let them spirits fly away. I'm singing with a tongue of fire, Time to raise the dead, Rise and shine, boys, and leave your beds. I'm singing with a tongue of fire, Let it rest on your head. Stay awake tonite, you can sleep while your dead. We're gonna go head the blind, we're gonna go prophecy, Raisin' dead men from the graves, And you can throw off your body like you throw off your clothes, You don't need them anyway, We'll dance around the fire and watch the sparks shoot out and die, They ain't no different then you or I, We jump up from the earth and land back down in the dirt, But don't worry, everything will be alright.
5.
I said goodbye for that highway, I took you by the hand and I told you not to cry, but you did anyway. No you havent' lost me. Your an eden to me. Though I'm a first fallen leaf; merely a memory for those who sought me. So long Milwaukee. I headed west; Montana climbing, how the mountains look like fallen giants overcome by all these things that I'm fighting. And as I'm riding through these beautiful states, America shapes to the lonely feelings I'm hiding, and I put in writing. Oh, California, of an endless sun, and as it sets like days of old, all poor men's boats turn to gold. But I ain't got one. I just got these wheels, son, and tomorrow they will take me with a load that will break me, and chance that I once had to ever stop them is long forgotten. Oh West Virginia, your the song I'm singing, but your skyline of 10,000 pines is like a bloody jagged knife slowly swinging, until the summer brings in a new kind of hope that helps me to cope, 'cause I'm slipping from the rope to which I'm clinging...yeah, but I'm singing. Oh my Wisconsin, welcome me in. Don't let the snow fall by my side to gently remind me that I cant' win and that I never will...that the stone I've been rolling, a rolling and rolling forever up the hill was meant for sinking. Now I've been drinkin. And the bottle's caught me, and I'm thinking I should go back home and live that simple life my father taught me...In old Milwaukee. Hello, Milwaukee.
6.
Iron Rail 04:07
I woke my head up, moaning on the motel floor Got that old maid knocking. Hoping she won't know no more And I'm feeling kinda low. Gonna load that van up and run it off the old tired road. Gonna throw my hands up, 'cuz I ain't at the wheel no more. And I'm feeling... Like the head is the tail is the head is the tail I'm choking on my own smoke trail. Better run, Bette run, but your good as done. Your fate be and Iron Rail, my fate be an Iron Rail. So it goes, so it goes, and it just keeps goin', Shoveling the rich black coal, The brakeman must have missed that whistle blowing Your screaming as your own back bows No I'm feeling at the end of my rope. Tick tack toe at a window seat Strummin' on the ol' banjo. A couch that folds is a reason to cheat. A reason only no one knows. CHORUS I got that notion to jump out the skin I've worn, and set fire to that ocean, and walk in through my own back door.
7.
You swung from the tire and you landed in the moon. And you knelt there soaked through and through. And the fire did dry you in silence and soon How the night took over you. Our blood ran thin and the shadows would sing Across the limbs that were our room And the howls and the cries Pierced the star-scattered skies And scared off anything that dared to move. And we stole the light as the darkness grew Stole our meals to save a dime or two, And I stole the words that I used to get closer to you, While stealing the chords to an old mountain tune. Our visions ceased as waves of relief Brought us down firmly in our shoes, And the coyotes crooned as if somehow they knew About the hard times coming soon. But we stole the light as the darkness grew Stole some wine and a fifth of booze, And I stole the words I used to get closer to you. While stealing the chords to an old mountain tune. Now the boards do creak below our feet, And they're begging for you to fall through, And even the nail, how they scream to be free, See the holes they left for you. But we stole the light as the darkness grew, We stole our meals to save a dime or two. And I stole the words I used to get closer to you, While stealing the chords to an old mountain tune.
8.
Walkin' Fine 03:25
9.
And the words that you sang Weren't like when they began, No longer meant for their ears or for their hands. And your straight and narrow course How it shifted back and forth 'Til you lost sight of all that you could plan. And now your sins How they sting, But don't you let the words you sing Be a burden on the wind. Now your bullets are long fired And your guns all retired, Long resigned from the job to which you were hired. Now the days seem so long Since those days when you were gone And you stand silent like the truth among liars. Still your ears How they ring While you rend Reason's wings Like a burden on the wind. While your friends tip toe round Many a strangers will crown You with knowledge between love and high regard. And while others forget well, You can't forget yourself, Who could have known forgiveness could be so hard. Still your sins How they cling From your days Between kings 'Til you feel Simpler things They be a burden on the wind.
10.

about

Tongues of Fire is the second solo album from, Joseph Huber, ex banjo player of .357 String Band out of Milwaukee, WI. This is no sing-songwriter "solo" sound though. This album is full of sound, rounded out with banjo, fiddle, bass, harmonica, tambourine, and drum. It's upbeat and full of life. There are ten songs that reveal another new side...not as morose as his first solo album "Bury Me Where I Fall." Simply, they are honest, sincere, and light on their feet.

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released June 14, 2012

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Joseph Huber Milwaukee, Wisconsin

After 7 years of hard touring and playing banjo with the influential streetgrass group, .357 String Band, Joseph Huber has found an individual voice that covers a vast range of influence. Playing all the instruments, from fiddle to harmonica to banjo to tambourine (and as many as he can at once) he amazes and entertains, but also reveals substance. His songs are lyrical, but he knows a good hook. ... more

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