Name: Smoke and Steam
Duration: P00H04M35S
Description: Probably the closest thing to an autobiography I'll ever write.

Smoke and Steam

from Smoke and Steam by Clay Rose

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about

Probably the closest thing to an autobiography I'll ever write.

lyrics

I last saw my daddy south of Moab, Utah,
caught in the snares of a black magic bruja.
I left his bones for dust in the twilight pale,
but he followed me down to Tupelo
with the rest of the ghosts on the Natchez Trail.

My mama lived in Corpus Christi.
She used to surf with the sharks and man-o’-wars out at sea
‘till one day the monsoon came to visit Texas.
The tsunami thought she looked good,
had her for breakfast.

Nothin’ is at all what it seems;
it’s all mirages and dreams,
and I’m just runnin’ lost among the smoke and steam.

In search of a cause, I fell in with an orphan crew.
We dug a tunnel all the way from the Bay of Fundy to Cadaloo.
In celebration of our destination, I tried to shake their hands,
but they disappeared just like I had feared
and left me standin’ alone in No Man’s Land.

Chorus

Near Calico Rock, in the middle of a July night,
I fell in love with a pale blue girl
who said she could show me the light.
She took my hand and said, “Understand,
now there ain’t no goin’ back.”
And that light was as big as a full fall moon
before I noticed I was walkin’ on the railroad track.

Nothin’ is at all what it seems;
it’s all mirages and dreams,
and I’m just runnin’ lost among the smoke and steam.

I got a sugar cube for a soul, and I got rain most every day.
Together, we sweeten the world; alone, I wash away.
Together, we sweeten the world; alone, I just decay.

credits

from Smoke and Steam, released July 7, 2005
Clay Rose - Acoustic Guitar and Vocals
Gregory Alan Isakov - Slide guitar and Banjo
Jeb Bows - Fiddle

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Clay Rose Boulder, Colorado

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