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. |
Blood, Sweat, Tears
02:40
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You want a love and you fight to get.
It gives you hell and it ain't done yet.
You want a lie or you want the truth?
Love is the law and you are the proof.
You cry and cry but you never come out clean.
But you will try 'till the dirt below looks green.
You want my blood, sweat, tears.
You want my life, my breath, my fear.
I gave you moonlight.
Soft kisses for years.
But you want my blood, sweat, tears.
You got a pass for a greyhound bus.
You brought a sign said NY or bust.
You got a vision the woman said.
You gotta live out what's in your head.
You better dance til your feet beg for an end.
Cause girl tomorrow, you're on that bus again.
You want my blood, sweat, tears.
You want my love, my death, my fear.
I gave you moonlight.
Soft kisses for years.
But you want my blood, sweat, tears.
You want my blood, sweat, tears.
You want my life, my breath, my fear.
I gave you moonlight.
Soft kisses for years.
But you want my blood, sweat, tears.
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2. |
Make Love
04:15
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don't wanna run from my tomorrow.
I don't wanna hide from my today.
I don't wanna beg you or to borrow.
Anything that my hands can't repay.
I'm not gonna lie bout where my heart's been.
Swinging through a big revolving door.
Think it's time I made a choice to come in.
Say this time I want a little more.
I wanna make love, make love to someone.
Make love, make love to someone.
Make love, make love to someone.
Make love.
Didn't come to barter out my body.
Lower down or worry up my mind.
When I'm facin' someone who can face me.
Then I'm leavin' all of that behind.
And we'll say, I don't wanna grow,
But to watch you grow.
I don't wanna shine but to watch you shine.
I'm not gonna cry but to let you know.
I'm not gonna run away this time.
I wanna make love, make love to someone.
Make love, make love to someone.
Make love, make love to someone.
Make love.
I don't wanna settle for a thousand yesterdays.
Only wanna lay down where my heart will always stay.
Didn't come to take nothin' from you boy.
Unless it's what you wanna give away.
Let's call that my simple grain of truth, boy.
Somethin' that'll linger when the fantasies stray
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3. |
City Garden
04:30
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Been lookin' at my city garden.
For almost twelve months now.
I been thinkin' bout a bargain.
About tearin' that old fence down.
The day that I moved in here.
Found a single rusted lawn chair.
And a note that said.
Go and get 'em girl
Go and get 'em girl
Set of keys in my hand.
For an empty room
On a small but wild plot of land
When August came there grew a billion weeds
Shot out from in the core
I pulled till I fell to my knees
But those roots seemed to spread more and more
I waved the neighbors over
I said Hey look this over
Shielding their eyes, they cried
Go and get 'em girl
Go and get 'em girl
Turned back to their land
But my rugged green
Kept on pushing new life up to stand
I used to date a boy in Paris
Until I hit New York
And aren't we velvet-petalled roses
Til we're up against the big sharks
Rooted on this island
My thoughts they started climbing
And it grew and grew
I would leave him there
I would leave him there
But then he let me go
He let me go
He must have known
That roots this deep
Only can bring forth
One bloom to grow
Been lookin' at my city garden.
For almost twelve months now.
I been thinkin' bout a bargain.
About tearin' that old fence down.
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4. |
Holy Land
04:10
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Children play in a garden of Eden
Hunger away, food never eaten.
Storing treasures in the sand
While we curse the promised land
Like we've never been
Run like thieves, die for riches
Guilded doors and blood soaked ditches
But the colors of the trees
Are meant for you and me
If we ever see
Holy land
Holy land
Holy land
In the palms of our hands
You want a soul, find a soul full of kisses
Who won't let you go
Who knows what your wish is
Even when you fawn or fight
He'll see you in the light
That you saw within
Holy land
Holy land
Holy land
In the palms of our hands
Holy land
Holy land
Holy land
In the palms of our hands
I went away to be all by myself where
Children don't play
Hearts hide, too scared
I would never have believed
It still would follow me
Like a prayer shot south
Sat on a cold and lonely thruway
Fought every old, and every new way
Til I looked out of the glass
And I felt it fallin' fast out of my mouth
Holy land
Holy land
Holy land
In the palms of our hands
Holy land
Holy land
Holy land
In the palms of our hands
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5. |
Real Live Love
04:49
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When
When will we see?
It ain't love
If it ain't free
And I'm tired of playin' it tough
And these fantasies ain't good enough
I want real live love
For the soul of me
Soldiers are terrified, governors bored
Freedom's for rich people, fightin's for poor
Dyin' to settle some billionaire's score
Soldiers are terrified, governors bored
Runnin' around with a glint in our eye
Feeding on oil that's milking us dry
And blowin' up engines where angels would fly
Runnin' around with a glint in our eye
When
When will we see?
It ain't love
If it ain't free
And I'm tired of playin' it tough
And these fantasies ain't good enough
I want real live love
For the soul of me
It could be your great end
Or your sinner's sole reprieve
Not to know how to fight
But still to believe
There's so much to see when you just crack your eyes
Or when the world just takes you by surprise
Force you to witness an angry wave rise
So much to see when you just crack your eyes
But once they're open you can't put 'em back
You'll never make up for all that you lack
Just put down the armor and follow the path
Cause once it's open, you can't put it back
When
When will we see?
It ain't love
If it ain't free
And I'm tired of playin' it tough
And these fantasies ain't good enough
I want real live love
For the soul of me
And I know how to fight
So I?d willingly lay down my life
For some real live love for the soul of me
Real live love for the soul of me
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6. |
Shell & Shore
04:41
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I got out of my bed
I wrote a letter down
Was missing several words
But I could hear their sound
I didn't know who I
Would send the letter to
But there upon my step
Strange man with eyes of blue
I went back to my desk
I wrote six letters more
Stories about a shell
Washed upon a shore
And when it opens up
Will you be there
Cause when it opens up
From its armor it's scared
Will you be there
I thought about the way
He stood so patient with
My fighting, trembling hands
My traps and all my tricks
But then it bubbled up
The endless well of doubt
He'd see all I had done
Figure the whole thing out
And when it opens up
Honey, will you be there
Cause when it opens up
From its armor it's scared
Will you be there
And all the times its bled and all the times its lied
The ways that it's been led and all the times its tried
To get on without love and keep killin' time
Meanwhile this precious heart was shriveling up inside
I wrote a letter down
I'm missing several words
But if you hear their sound
Some way I've never heard
I'll seal it with my hands
I'll press it to your heart
It's more than I can stand
But maybe that's a start
And when it opens up
Will you be there
Cause when it opens up
From its armor it's scared
Will you be there
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7. |
Swimming Pool
04:11
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Rachel is a gilded volume
Of holy scripture
That I read over and over again
Until I get the picture
And keep upon my night stand
Next to my pen and tumbler
But you, you are my swimming pool
My wet and holy slumber
Marc is like a pyre
I think of in the morning
When it?s time to go to work
And fear of work is dawning
He?s like a pure example
A sacred shrine burning
But you, you are my swimming pool
You take in all the yearning
You calm my heady thinkin'
A water bed to sink in
And rise out in the mornin'
For the sun to drink in
When I was a little girl
I had a love for swimming
And you, you are my swimming pool
A well of love that's brimming.
Jessie is a river flowin'
We never know where she's goin'
But we?re happy to join her
Try to know what she's knowin'
She weaves around those rocks and bends
Keeps the world stirring
But you, you are my swimming pool.
An island?s reassuring
You calm my heady thinkin'
A water bed to sink in
And rise out in the mornin'
For the sun to drink in
A many-layered triptych
The world that I can live in
But you, you are my swimming pool
A world that I can swim in
You, you are my swimming pool
A world that I can swim in
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8. |
Middle Road
04:46
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I marched over a hill
And through a swamp to come to this
Every run and jump thrill
Was followed by a cold wet ditch
Now the only thing that's left to scare me so
Is to keep on breathing
Moving forward while the winds race to and fro
Take it slow
Take it slow
Take it slow
Cause here we go
Here we go
Here we go
Walk the middle road of love
Walk the middle road of love
You don't know what's gonna break
You don't know what's gonna bend
You don't know what it'll take
You don't know what's gonna end
Tonight
Now I'm manning the wheel
And I'm making myself look
I see planets and fields
I see sun and clouds and brooks
And the deepest shade of blue I've ever seen
On a ground so pure I
Can't believe I've thought that paint I knew was green
Take it slow
Take it slow
Take it slow
Cause here we go
Here we go
Here we go
Walk the middle road of love
Walk the middle road of love
You don't know what's gonna break
You don't know what's gonna bend
You don't know what it'll take
You don't know what's gonna end
Tonight
Why do they always want the most
You have to give in this life?
I think the most would be
Relaxing while the wheels took flight
Take it slow
Take it slow
Take it slow
Cause here we go
Here we go
Here we go
Walk the middle road of love
Walk the middle road of love
You don't know what's gonna break
You don't know what's gonna bend
You don't know what it'll take
You don't know what's gonna end
Tonight
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9. |
Alone
04:18
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When I say that he left me, I know
It's not that clear who rowed
When I say that I'm lonely, I know
It's not their fault
Life isn't always a ball
Everyone's got to be alone sometimes
Everyone's got to be alone sometimes.
You can walk alone or cry alone
Or look between the lines
But everyone's got to be alone sometimes.
When I say that my scars are my strengths
I don?t expect you to feel the same
When I say that I'm not turning back
I don't expect a yellow brick path
Everyone's got to be alone sometimes
Everyone's got to be alone sometimes.
You can walk alone or cry alone
Or look between the lines
But everyone's got to be alone sometimes.
When I learned to stand on my feet
I saw the trash in the street
And I knew some of it would be mine and yours
But that's just one thing you see
When you open the doors
I know you've been here before
But everyone's got to be alone sometimes
Everyone's got to be alone sometimes.
You can walk alone or cry alone
Or look between the lines
But everyone's got to be alone sometimes.
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10. |
All I Ever Had
05:09
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I feel like I'm fighting some huge Goliath
Sometimes the shadow is all I can see
And it's all I can do to stand here and say this
Please don't bail on me
You say you don't think I'm doing the right thing
But there's no knowing what one small life brings
And what can I do but stand here and sing
Words that you gave me
All I ever had
All I ever had
All I ever had
Was your love
You're not the only one scared its too much
Scared I'm a fool to think what I could touch
But I've a feeling believing would change such
If we two can see
Cause nothing is harder than losing the background
And looking the foreground so clear in its face
Where some of the colors will weaken and fade down
Some won?t be replaced
All I ever had
All I ever had
All I ever had
Was your love
And if I fall down and no one saves me
That's not the time I need the most
It's when I stand up with my knees shaking
And say, please don't let me go
And say please, don't let me go
All I ever had
All I ever had
All I ever had
Was your love
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11. |
World Could End
02:35
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I'm goin' down to the river
I'm gonna tear off my clothes
I'm gonna swim in the current
Cause when it dries up nobody knows
And I may seal up my fate
Yeah I may step up to die
But lord knows I been dyin' here
Just too scared to fly
The world could end
The world could end
The world could end
The world could end
The world could end
The world could end
And we don't know when
We don't know when
There's a man in the reeds
Yeah he's slitherin' down there
Throwing his venom on the world
That I held dear
And now he's drainin' my blood
He's hissin' Dance or be dead
But I'm not waitin to kick up my heels
I heard what he said
The world could end
The world could end
The world could end
The world could end
And we don't know when
We don't know when
You wanna wait here that's your choice
But I heard a higher voice
Heard it callin' out my name
Through my pain
Sayin' come on girl
You wanna dance again?
1-2-3-4
The world could end
The world could end
The world could end
The world could end
The world could end
The world could end
And we don't know when
We don't know when
The world could end
The world could end
The world could end
The world could end
The world could end
The world could end
And we don't know when
We don't know when
I'm goin' down to the river
I'm gonna tear off my clothes
I'm gonna swim in the current 'cause when it dries up
Nobody knows
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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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