Get all 21 Jess Klein releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of L.O.V.E., Jess Klein & The Berlin Brothers Vol. 1, When We Rise, That Was My Family, Never Gonna Break Me, My Own Beating Heart (single) , Another Man Done Gone - 100% of proceeds to NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Back to My Green , and 13 more.
1. |
In Dreams
03:30
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In Dreams
In dreams
Your smile blows the dust away
Melts me into the child I used to be
I see
Light stream across the floor
You walk towards an open door
Then beckon me
I don't know why nobody told me
We hold the cure for pain
I know I’d fly if my dreamin’ could only
Brave the light of day
In dreams
When I see the tears you cried
I stand right by your side
Sayin’ please
When you lead
Me down by the water's edge
I jump the thorny hedge
And come clean
I don't know why nobody told me
We hold the cure for pain
I know I’d fly if my dreamin’ could only
Brave the light of day
I scale a wall ten miles high
I stand and look you dead in the eye
Can't seem to find any reason to lie
Under the cover of sleep
I don't know why nobody told me
We hold the cure for pain
I know I’d fly if my dreamin’ could only
Brave the light of day
In dreams
You've shown me the way to heal
Now I must make it real
Make it real
Make it real
Make it real
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2. |
Tougher Than I Seem
03:38
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Tougher Than I Seem
I”m tougher than I seem
You wouldn’t know it just to look at me
But I’ve seen a world you have never seen
And I’m tougher than I seem
I’ve earned my pride
Filling the well that’s fed me from inside
For every time my dream has been denied
I’ve earned my pride
And when you see me cryin’
It’s just my vision coming clean
And when you see me smilin’
I’m smilin’
Cause I’m seeing a vision
Like the world has never seen
So make no mistake
Though it’s a road some may never take
Down it I go clear-eyed and awake
Make no mistake
I hold a space for you
You might not breath easy here
You might not li’
But while I’m dreamin
Of all that could be true
I hold a space in my heart for you
And when you see me cryin’
It’s just my vision coming clean
And when you see me smilin’
I’m smilin’
Cause I’m seeing a vision
Like the world has never seen
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3. |
Mammal
03:26
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Mammal
I’m a mammal, baby
My body knows
How to fight and how to run
And how to let it all go
When you see me sprawlin’
Across the grass
It’s because I slipped the danger
Now I’ve let it all pass
And I’m starting to realize
Put down and paralyzed ain’t the place for me
Oh no no no
Yes I’m starting to truly know
I’m not build to hold all your anxiety
I’m better at breathing
I’m a part of nature
Born in blood
And when I die, my body
Will return into the mud
But my human spirit,
Something divine
Something un-contained
By all your numbers and lines
And though I’ve known my share of pain
And felt the shame
Turning me dead inside
Oh no no no
I just don’t choose to sit in blame
Or sink so low
I need to run and hide
I’m better at breathing
Now I hiss
And I scream
But I don’t need to dream of changing you
If I just do
What I do
And I’m starting to see the truth
Your world so ruthless and powerful
Oh no no no
It ain’t got half the power of
The kind of love
That makes my heart this full
I’m better at breathing
I’m better at breathing
I’m better at breathing
I’m better at breathing
I’m better at breathing
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4. |
Blair Mountain
03:40
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Blair Mountain
They stole the mountaintops
Brother they stole the mountaintops
What are we ‘sposed to look up to?
Don’t tell me the skies of blue
I need a path to climb
To make it through this life
And to know there’s something more
Than to leave my children poor
Or my heart will surely stop
They stole the mountaintops
They let the tunnels cave
Brother they let the tunnels cave
Cave in on your friends so brave
Here’s a photograph to save
Sorry for your loss
It’s just the human cost
As he’s lowered in his grave
Someone else will take his place
Need a job so they’ll behave
They let the tunnels cave
I gave my life to this mountain
I gave my blood to this rock
Keep it flowing like a heavenly fountain
But the bleeding well it just won’t stop
They turned the river black
Where she would wash your back
Ain’t ‘sposed to touch it now
But they won’t tell us how
How they plan to fix
So many getting sick
And all about to crack
They turned the river black
I gave my life to this mountain
I gave my blood to this rock
Keep it flowing like a heavenly fountain
But the bleeding well it just won’t stop
I gave my life to this mountain
I gave my blood to this rock
Keep it flowing like a heavenly fountain
But the bleeding well it just won’t stop
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5. |
Back to My Green
03:29
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Back To My Green
Hot afternoon
Tree frogs are revving
Revving it up for a symphony only they understand
What would I do
To be part of the green
Shimmy along to their rhythm
And to just be free
In my body
Free in my mind
Free from the world of want and worry that swallows our time
I could be free
Like the breeze in the pine
On a hot afternoon
When I recall
Places I’ve been
Cities of steel and granite never let you in
Aw, but back to my green
Her mystery
Pulling me in like a lover whispers
And I’m free
In my body
Free in my mind
Free from the fear of our own wonder that swallows our time
I could be free
Feel the heavens align
When I recall
Sayin’ I’m free
In my body
Free in my mind
Free to believe that love and beauty can win in our time
Sayin’ I’m free
Sayin’ I’m fine
When I follow her lead
Back to my green
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6. |
New Thanksgiving Feast
05:38
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New Thanksgiving Feast
We traced our hands and made paper cutouts
We pasted feathers on
And we would shout out
“I made a turkey”
“I made a headdress”
“I made a pilgrim’s hat”
Then it was recess
And the bell would ring
We’d run into the streets called
“Iroquois”, “Council Rock”, “Cayuga”
Those street signs hid the truth though
Dad put the football on
It felt like family
We’d eat the most we could
Pass out in front of the TV
Grandma and grandpa
They were from Russia
They wouldn’t talk about
What it was like though
I think they would have died
If they had never tried
To come here
Another family knowin’ that fear
Now I think about the English-Irish Servants
Africans they drug across in chains
Chinese and Italian families riding on the waves
While along the pitch pine highway
Near Plymouth Beach
A Wampanoag fights to keep his right to fish the sea
A Wampanoag fights to keep his right to fish the sea
When we all meet our Creator
Which will it be?
Paper cutouts and hollow shells
Or a new Thanksgiving feast
Or a new Thanksgiving feast
Out on an icy plain
Wrapped in blankets and beads
Elders with weathered faces
Faces that read like history
Say a prayer for all of those who’ve come to stand
And a prayer for those firing water cannons
It is a prayer for
The Creator
While on a football field
A man refuses to rise
To salute a country that would let his people die
And though the rage and fear
Swirl around him like a twister
He’s committed to his brothers and his sisters
He’s made a choice he knows
So peacefully he sits there
While along the chilly streets of Boston,
Charlotte, Seattle and DC
People pouring out in numbers never seen before
When we come to face our shadows
Shadows too angry to ignore
Are we gonna tell ourselves it’s down to either/or?
Or will we finally realize we’re meant for something more?
When we all meet our Creator
Which will it be?
Towing the lines, pretending we’re blind
Or a new Thanksgiving feast
Or a new Thanksgiving feast
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7. |
Gates of Hell
04:08
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Gates of Hell
Woke up this morning and I walked out my front door
Woke up this morning and I walked out my front door
Something was telling me I’d never seen a day like this before
A voice inside me said to look down in the well
A voice inside me said to look down in the well
Right there beneath the surface
Fires raging like the blazing gates of hell
I called the sheriff
I rang the bell
Said we’re living inches from the gates of hell
His face went funny
He tipped his hat
Then he took off again in seconds flat
I called my mama, I said “Mama help me please”
I called my mama, I said “Mama help me please”
She said “Child I been to hell and back,
I’ve never seen the likes of times like these.”
I called my daddy, I said “Please don’t make me beg”
I called my daddy, I said “Please don’t make me beg”
He said “I’d like to help you, but the bank repossessed my legs”
I called the doctor
I called the priest
The priest was spitting venom at the doctor on his knees
I cried for mercy, “Help me escape!”
Mercy sent a spoiled child in a Superman’s cape
I climbed in the bucket and I lowered myself down
I climbed in the bucket and I lowered myself down
I’d rather meet the devil than to stay here in this crazy circus town
Said I’d rather meet the devil than to stay here in this crazy circus town
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8. |
For the Girlz
03:59
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For the Girls
This one’s for the girls
Who lounge around like Venus
Knowing how to let the apple fall
Patient like a rose
They are brilliant, they are genius
Wait for some young buck to come and call
Me, I’m never sure
How to hold my cards
That’s the thing I long for most of all
This one’s for the girls
Who lounge around like Venus
Knowing how to let the apple fall
This one’s for the boys
Singing songs so tender
Songs that call from high above the noise
Blowing rings of smoke
That beg you to surrender
Swing and sway and fall without a choice
Me, I’m always scared to look up from the ground
Scared to lose the sound of my own voice
But this one’s for the boys
Singing songs so tender
Songs that call from high above the noise
Oh, when I’m finally feeling stronger
Oh, when there ain’t no right or wrong
Oh, if it moves me along
It moves me along
It moves me along
This one’s for the days
Running with the horses
Free to rise and free to fall
Melt like butter days
When all the other forces
Tremble with their backs against the wall
Days when I am sitting still as any flower
Days when I am standing ten feet tall
This one’s for the days
Running with the horses
Free to rise and free to fall
This one’s for the days
Naked and unfurled
Music-playing boys, flower laden girls
For the mystic rays of light that fall upon the world
And the ways they fall upon the world
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9. |
Kid
04:24
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Kid
Kid let me tell you how it’s gonna be
Starting the moment you’re on your own feet
You’ll be walking so proud and then you’ll fall
Use everything that you can to get back up again
You’ll learn the best lesson of all
Go falling in love, kid you’ll fall down some more
Blind ambition won’t even the score
But don’t let the shame come and hide you away
Do your best just to feel it
The pain makes you real
If you let it pass through and away
Kid I was once a child just like you
Wishin’ to skip pain I had to go through
But there’s no way around the beat of your heart
Listen to follow it’s sound
It’ll pull you back up kid, the same way it did from the start
The longer you’re here, the more you may find
The road growing steeper the further you climb
Give yourself time to gather your breath
Then watch the summit appear
When you heed that old voice sayin’ one foot in front of the next
Kid I was once a child just like you
Through the risin’ and fallin’ learned you gotta be true
And leave all the questions to Heaven above
And when you get to where I am, you’ll see it so clearly
The goal of your journey
Was love
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10. |
I Hear Love
04:11
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I Hear Love
I’m sayin’ a prayer today
For everyone who’s come so far
Only to be turned away
I’m sayin’ a prayer today
I’m fallin’ down on my knees
Praying God to tell me please
How to live in times like these
I’m fallin’ down on my knees
Ooh, I hear love
I hear love
I hear love
Hear it callin’ our names
Ooh, I hear love
Askin’ us
To speak up
And let it hear us the same
I’m sayin’ a prayer today
For the ones so full of hate
They can’t even see it straight
I’m sayin’ a prayer today
I’m thinkin’ about that child
Growin’ up with all that anger
Turn into a perfect stranger
I’m thinkin’ about that child
Ooh, I hear love
I hear love
I hear love
Hear it callin’ our names
Ooh, I hear love
Askin’ us
To speak up
And let it hear us the same
And watch as an eagle takes flight
Spreads its wings with all its might
Lifts us high above this
Hard
Dark
Night
Ooh, I hear love
I hear love
I hear love
Hear it callin’ our names
Ooh, I hear love
Askin’ us
To speak up
And let it hear us the same
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Jess Klein Hillsborough, North Carolina
Rochester, NY native Jess Klein is known for staking out brave lyrical and musical territory with such albums as Wishes Well Disguised (1998), Draw Them Near (2000), Strawberry Lover (2005), City Garden (2006), Bound to Love (2009), Behind A Veil (2012) and Learning Faith (2014) which Folk Radio UK calls “unquestionably the finest album of [her] impressive career.” ... more
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