Get all 5 Jud Caswell releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Great Divide (Single), Live at the Seagull Shop, Watch the Fall, Blackberry Time, and Lost & Found.
1. |
Get Poor Slow
03:30
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Get Poor Slow
(c)2015 Jud Caswell (Alderdown Songs, ASCAP)
I never cared about money much
I never had a lot to throw around
I never cared about the fancy cars
Just give me something that can get around town
I never thought I would amount to much
Never wanted to go too far
All I wanted was to spend my days
Picking songs on an old guitar
If anybody asked me what my plans were I'd say “I don't know
Some people want to get rich quick
I'd be happy just to get poor slow.”
She never cared about money much
Never had a lot growing up
She's got an eye for the Goodwill gold
Makes it look like a million bucks
Don't need to buy caviar
Don't need the pearls or the symphony
Just a cider and some takeout Thai
Jane Austen on the DVD
She told me when she met me There was something I should know.
She said, “Some people want to get rich quick
But I'd be happy just to get poor slow.”
So I asked her if she'd marry me and wear that little ring.
I said, “the best things in life are free.”
She said, “The best things in life are not even things.”
Now we've got a place to call our own
Apple tree growing in the yard
Seems there's always something else to do
Seems we never have to work too hard
Little girls out on the swings
Smell of smoke coming off the grill
Maybe later we could bundle up
Sit and listen for the whip-poor-will.
All I want to ask her is, Baby, when did you know
Our life was gonna get rich quick
Trying just to get poor slow?
˜Cuz our life sure got rich quick
Trying just to get poor slow.
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2. |
Blackberry Time
04:34
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Blackberry Time
(c)2007 Jud Caswell (Alderdown Songs, ASCAP)
Lately I've been chasing after little things that always slip away
Living in my calendar and living in my car instead of living in the day
But a wind blew down from Canada this morning
Like a warning shot of cold across my bow
So now I'm out here in my sandals getting bloodied by these brambles
And eating all the berries I'm allowed
Because it's Blackberry Time, Blackberry Time
It's a secret of a season in its prime
When all the world is full and ripe and quickly going by
Then it's Blackberry Time
The air is full of cricket song and hayseed, honeybee and dragonfly
The last full day of summer, baked and cooling on the windowsill
Smells a lot like apple pie
And up beneath the poplar and the birches
At the border where the grass has gone to trees
I've got those stains upon my fingers and an aftertaste that lingers
One part sweet, one part fruit and two parts seed
Blackberry Time, Blackberry Time
It's a secret of a season in its prime
When all the world is full and ripe and quickly going by
Then it's Blackberry Time
I wish I had a cup to fill to take this harvest home and make it stay
I wish I had that recipe to press it into wine to seal the flavor of the day
Watching from a silver maple's branches there's a catbird, sings a hungry kind of song
He says œbe thankful for the sweet because you know that it don't keep
You just eat what you can eat and move along
When it's Blackberry Time, Blackberry Time
It's a secret of a season in its prime
When all the world is full and ripe and quickly going by
Then it's Blackberry Time
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3. |
Moon on a String
04:13
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4. |
That's the Way We Climb
03:29
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That's the Way We Climb
(c)2019 Jud Caswell (Alderdown Songs, ASCAP)
Looking at the mountain and it seems too steep to climb
Looking at the mountain and it seems too steep to climb
It takes a lot of courage and it takes a lot of time
Put one foot in front of the other
One foot in front of the other
One foot in front of the other, that's the way we climb
Looking at the sadness and it seems too deep to mend
Looking at the sadness and it seems too deep to mend
Look into a stranger's eyes until you find a friend
Put one hand in the other
One hand in the other
One hand in the other, that's the way we mend
Looking at our differences it seems too hard to love
Looking at our differences it seems too hard to love
But everyone's the same about the most important stuff
Listen to each other
Listen to each other
Listen to each other, that's the way we love
Looking at yourself it seems there's nothing you can do
Looking at yourself it seems there's nothing you can do
But if you do the best you can then I will do it too
Lean upon each other
Lean upon each other
Lean upon each other, that's what we can do
Looking at the distance and it seems too far to go
Looking at the distance and it seems too far to go
The road that leads to justice may be longer that we know
Put one foot in front of the other
One foot in front of the other
One foot in front of the other, that's the way we go
Looking at the mountain and it seems too steep to climb
Looking at the mountain and it seems too steep to climb
It takes a lot of courage and it takes a lot of time
Put one foot in front of the other
One foot in front of the other
One foot in front of the other, that's the way we climb
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5. |
Insurance Intro
01:27
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6. |
Insurance Plan
02:33
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Insurance Plan
(c)2019 Jud Caswell (Alderdown Songs, ASCAP)
Today's our day to walk down the aisle
With a tearful eye and a joyful smile
I'm gonna put this ring upon your hand
So I can put you on my insurance plan
Our long engagement has amused our friends
And annoyed our families, still it had to end
So we called the preacher to save the day
And we called the office to change the co-pay
On the insurance plan, insurance plan
Make a husband and a wife out of a woman and a man
You won't need to check your checkbook
When you schedule your exam
Once I put you on my insurance plan
Because nothing in the world can make a love more indestructible
Than a policy with dental and a reasonable deductible
Insurance plan, insurance plan,
Make a husband and a wife out of a woman and a man
And when you want to start a family
Call the OBGYN
And have her send the tab to my insurance plan.
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7. |
Mary Mack
02:14
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8. |
Watch the Fall
04:14
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Watch the Fall
(c)2015 Jud Caswell (Alderdown Songs, ASCAP)
The Androscoggin River is staggering and stumbling
Tumbling down the rapids through town,
Mumbling and shouting out the sorrows
He's been trying to drown
Ever since the ice broke he's been out on a bender
Muddier and meaner every day
Tripping up the riverbanks
Kicking down whatever's in his way.
Set 'em up, knock 'em down,
That's the name of the game in this town
Set 'em up, knock 'em down,
Watch the fall.
I still remember the year this old river
Flooded out the old abandoned mill
All the boys were drinking Narragansett
And watching from the hill
While the Androscoggin river climbed that foundation
Tore out every scrap they left behind.
I guess he used to work there
And when they left he didn't take it kind.
Set 'em up, knock 'em down,
That's the name of the game in this town
Set 'em up, knock 'em down,
Watch the fall.
The Androscoggin river was a hell of a worker
He carried this whole county on his back
Now he's just a drunkard singing shanties
On the wrong side of the track.
The new people frown and they hold their noses
Their little ones throw rocks and run away
But you should've seen him
The day he dragged that mill down to the bay
Set 'em up, knock 'em down,
That's the name of the game in this town
Set 'em up, knock 'em down,
Watch the fall.
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9. |
Jigs
02:26
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10. |
Stocks Intro
02:21
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11. |
Stocks
03:33
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Stocks
(c)2001 Jud Caswell (Alderdown Songs, ASCAP)
I am the fox, I am the artist
I am the magic man who makes things grow
You give me ten, I give you twenty
You give me water, I give you Merlot
From red to black, Ursa to Taurus
From Flinty Michigan to Mexico
Don’t ask me how, that’s not your business
Don’t make me tell you things you should not know...
You’ve got your class, you’ve got your image
You’ve got your mistresses and families
You need your sleep, need your excuses
And plausible deniabilities
I know your work, I know your problems
Leave those gory details up to me.
We’ll toast the market, we’ll toast to profit
And when we’re done we will discuss my fee
I work for stocks, a gun for hire
I’ll fire everyone you ought to fire
Then change the locks and call the buyer
Collect our Bouillon and we’ll all retire.
Don’t look so shocked, say I’m a liar
Say you’re a businessman who stands for something higher.
Take your time; collect your thoughts.
Then let this opportunity out of the box:
I work for stocks.
I see my history precedes me:
There are a few of you who knew me when
I was a dabbler in guns and slavery
I turned Apartheid into pounds and yen.
Don’t be naïve, don’t be so preachy:
This is now, and brother, that was then.
And this is legal (’til further notice)
And we may never get this chance again.
I work for stocks, a gun for hire
I’ll fire everyone you ought to fire
Then change the locks and call the buyer
Collect our Bouillon and we’ll all retire.
Don’t look so shocked, say I’m a liar
Say you’re a businessman who stands for something higher.
Take your time; collect your thoughts.
Then let this opportunity out of the box:
I work for stocks.
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12. |
Pemaquid Sunset
02:26
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13. |
Phoebe on a Fencepost
03:02
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Phoebe on a Fencepost
(c)2019 Jud Caswell (Alderdown Songs, ASCAP)
Phoebe on a fencepost, fly away fly away
pheobe on a fencepost, fly away home
green snake in the sweet grass, slide away slide away
green snake in the sweet grass, slide away home
the sunlight through the birches paints a picture on the wall
the dandelions are closing and the hermit thrush calls
so Phoebe on a fencepost, fly away fly away
pheobe on a fencepost, fly away home
Baby in the bathtub, splash away splash away
baby in the bathtub, splash the whole floor
Mama in the kitchen, sing away, sing away
Mama in the kitchen, sing a little more
There’s moonlight on the window and the chicken’s home to roost
this train is bound for bedtime so shake that red caboose
Baby in the bathtub splash away splash away
Mama in the kitchen won’t you sing a little more?
Brown bat in the starlight, sweep away swoop away
Brown bat in the starlight, dancing on a breeze
Peepers in the frog pond, peep away, skreek away
Peepers in the frog pond, singing through the trees
There’s a Barred Owl in an oak tree like the ghost of Robert Frost
Asking about the yellow wood, the two roads and the cost
while the peepers in the frog pond peep away, skreek away
and a brown bat in the starlight is dancing on a breeze
Phoebe on a fencepost, fly away fly away
pheobe on a fencepost, fly away home
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14. |
Black is the Color
03:08
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15. |
Guinness Intro
00:24
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16. |
Pour Me a Guinness
03:08
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Pour Me A Guinness
(c)2019 Jud Caswell (Alderdown Songs, ASCAP)
Poor Mike McGuire got drier and drier
As he sat and he stared at the beer in his hands.
I pulled up a chair and I asked him his troubles,
He said you never have seen such a fool of a man.
For I went to the bar with this pint glass for filling,
Old Patrick he asked me, is it more of the same?
And it must be the Devil was up on my shoulder
For I ordered this Budweiser, much to my shame.
Now it's pour me a Guinness.
Never a bitter, a brown or a red.
If ever I order a pale or a porter
Promise me, Patrick, you'll do as I’ve said
And pour me a Guinness instead.
The Germans are proud of their precious Octobers,
The Dutch have their Heineys, the Chinese their Tsing,
But it's enough to drive any good Irishman sober
This beer the Americans crowned as their king.
chorus
Now your black and tan lover's a man of half measure
For half of his beer is as clear as his glass.
He says it's half full, but I see it's half empty
And it just barely covers his pale English Bass.
chorus
For Guinness is smooth as a shopkeeper’s daughter,
Sweeter than midnight and blacker than sin,
And if I can just finish this tankard of water
I never will stray from my Guinness again
chorus
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17. |
Grandparents' Intro
01:33
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18. |
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Dreams of My Grandparents's House
(c)2019 Jud Caswell (Alderdown Songs, ASCAP)
Just a kid in the corner on a rollaway bed
Spare bedroom, eyes open wide
To the tick of the clock, the hum of the radio,
Frank Sinatra swaying in time
To the whispering hiss of the steam radiator
Clearing it's throat with a will
The house is a giant, asleep and alive
I pull the sheets closer and wonder what's filling
The dreams of my grandparents' house
The dreams of my grandparents' house
There's a cast-iron peeler clamped to the table
Gravensteins shedding their skins.
The brown of the crust, the black of the burner,
The shine of the tin scoop in the old flour bin
There's pickles and spinach and beans under glass
On the shelf at the foot of the stair
To plant and to pick and to lay enough by
To last through the winter, with a little left to spare
Were the dreams of my grandparents' house
The dreams of my grandparents' house
Now older bones find warmer homes
When eyesight and hindsight fail
Younger hands carve bigger plans
Of hammer and sawtooth and nail
The walls came down and a roof was raised
For a big garage on the lawn
And those rambling rooms once tight as honeycomb
Are broken open, and the honey is gone
And the kitchen in stainless and spotlessly clean
Of the footprints of five generations
And I don't want to visit, because I don't want to see
I don't want to let these changes erase
My dreams of my grandparents' house
My dreams of my grandparents' house
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19. |
Holding It Together
04:11
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Holding It Together
(c)2019 Jud Caswell (Alderdown Songs, ASCAP)
the cedar of the shingles going silver
in the long summer twilight on my grandfather's barn
the ridgepole walks a crooked line
swaying deeper with the time
the nightshade and the ivy grow together
by the fieldstone foundation as it shoulders the load
it may not hold another year
that's why we've called the engineer
he grips his clipboard and chews his pen
squints up through the rafters and says "I'll tell you friend..."
Don't ask, you don't want to know
the numbers think this should've failed you long ago
but there's something holding it together the math will never show
so say a little prayer and on you go
she’s got baby blue and powder pink speckles
on the well-worn tee shirt from my favorite band
there’s stacks of books on every floor
masking tape around the door
i brush aside the dropcloth from the keyboard of the old piano
so i can wander for a while
i don’t hear her coming up behind
until she puts her hand in mine
and she says she’s worried, she can’t see clear
and do I think there will be room enough for three this year?
Don't ask, you don't want to know
the numbers think this should've failed us long ago
but there's something holding it together the math will never show
so say a little prayer and on we go
seems to me that life is lifeless
if you’re just waiting on some guarantee
you may prove that hope is hopeless
all i ask is: don’t tell me
Because I don't want to know
the numbers think this should've failed me long ago
but there's something holding it together the math will never show
so I say a little prayer and on I go
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20. |
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21. |
The Parting Glass
02:57
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Jud Caswell Brunswick, Maine
Seasoned Maine artist/performer & multi-instrumentalist Jud Caswell gives listeners a front-row seat to his engaging manner and storytelling at live shows, backed by his musical prowess/writing and his down-home warmth and wit, as recorded in his solo performance, “Live at the Seagull Shop,” the No 1 CD on the FAI Folk Chart March 2020. ... more
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