Get all 29 Walter Ehresman releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of That's How A Fable Starts (single), Cassandra, Cursed, My Back Pages, Revisited (With No Blonde), Songs From the Crux, Global Search Party, South of the Wall, The Best of.....Songs of Possibilities, The Best of..........the Weird Ones, and 21 more.
1. |
Spin It--2022 version
04:04
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Spin It
(© 2001 Walter Ehresman)
Big boys are so shameless,
so ruthless and so slick;
On the TV, they’ll be twisting
the promise without the lick.
Lonely at the bottom,
though I’m here with all my friends;
They say it all runs downhill;
When I look up--I see the end.
[chorus]
There is no truth, there is only expediency
Spin it
The hat you wear tomorrow
is not the hat you wear today;
I think I’ll leave my ears at home
‘cause I know what you’re gonna say.
Heard you wonder why the bad guys
always win out in the end;
Once hypocrisy hits the mainstream,
if you don’t scream--you’re hosed, my friend.
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2. |
Aqua Girl--2022 version
04:03
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Aqua Girl
(© 2010 Walter Ehresman)
Hurricane with no pressure drop, and
flash flood with no rain that’s falling;
Monsoon in my heart when I thought symmetry was all our mornings.
Champagne is diluted, and my
left finger is naked, and our
first dance of the evening is an empty spot out on the floor.
[chorus]
Here comes Aqua Girl;
She turns her love off like a faucet;
You think you’re swimming, then you’ve lost your buoyancy;
Only Aqua Girl;
She let’s you drown into her blue eyes;
The water’s fine, and then you’re in the Aral Sea.
Her theme song has no warning, and the
elements are just fickle, and we
fell apart in a moment when I thought our love would last forever;
Now I sit in the rubble, and I
am my own super-hero, ‘cause I
control the flood of the waters from my eyes—it drowns the bitter laughter.
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3. |
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That Summer Sun
(© 2009 Walter Ehresman)
I pick you up at midnight—and such a sight to see:
your skin so white and glowing; your lips as red as history.
I know a place where Ehrlich said some food shipped in today,
so buckle up baby, and let’s go.
We’ll take the 207 (there’s some trouble on the 9);
Put in the song we heard that night, where we danced (your hand in mine);
I love you in this moment, and whatever more may come;
I wish that things were not this way.
[chorus]
We live our lives out on the streets
beneath that phasing moon;
We’ve scaled our goals and trimmed our dreams—
we mad and happy few;
And when the colors
sneak up on the darkest night,
We run and hide from that summer sun;
[break]
Oh, I never thought we’d be underground;
Things have really gone south in this town;
“Mind the gap,” they say......
“Oh, my love, can you feel it? A breeze cools down the air.”
Our clothes, they fly into the back; your eyes, devil-may-care.
Our fingers barely touching—laid out to shed a few degrees;
Maybe we should go on back inside.
[chorus]
[chorus #2]
We live our lives out on the streets
Beneath that phasing moon;
We’ve scaled our goals and trimmed our dreams—
we mad and happy few;
Now the planet is broken,
it lasts the whole year long;
We run and hide from that summer sun
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4. |
Lady Sky--2021 version
06:17
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Lady Sky
(© 2009 Walter Ehresman)
Through the thunderhead--a sunbeam shining,
and our Lady Sky is flying;
Hope or guardian? (An angel sometimes);
Love to see her up there gliding.
[chorus]
It's a world of accidents, and things we can't control;
And who hasn't wished for someone to walk with us down the rabbit hole.
See her stride through the blinding blizzard;
See her walk out of a raging sea;
See her crawl out from the deepest abyss;
See her always be there for me.
See her heart so big, it folds my space/time;
See her arms so wide, the world is smiling;
See her eyes so bright, Calcutta glistens;
See us walking in the daylight laughing.
Through the thunderhead--a sunbeam shining,
and our Lady Sky is flying;
Hope or guardian? (An angel sometimes)
Love to see her up there gliding.
See her stride through the blinding blizzard;
See her walk out of a raging sea;
See her crawl out from the deepest abyss;
See her always be there for me.
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5. |
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Constellations
(© 2015 Walter Ehresman)
Charting the stars swarming ‘cross the Southern sky
to navigate these seas I do not know.
With a song, the anchor line was severed and I’m spinning
to the shoals where your indifference let me go.
She spreads the cards; leaves before the reading’s done—
that future never had a chance to grow.
She forgets the page the moment that the next one starts the turning—
her whims look for tomorrow’s heart to show.
[chorus]
There’s more to the code than the language and there’s more to the puzzle than the guide book said;
Or maybe we were just two people instead—
semaphores and signals; both trying to read the waves;
Some to safe harbor, and some wash away;
Some to safe harbor, some just wash away.
She paints in blood—the canvas tries to overcome
the medium that drains out from my soul;
Contradictions underline the sickness that I’m feeling,
but to walk away is all that I control.
Constellations—they swarm;
Constellations—re-form.
[chorus]
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6. |
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Only You Remain
(© 1990 Walter Ehresman)
When you step into the night,
and all the feelings that you have are locked up tight--
who will keep you sane, when only you remain?
When you’re standing all alone,
in a crowded room or sitting in your home--
is it worth the price you pay, when only you remain?
[break]
Open up your heart;
‘Cause love is worth the scars.
When you fall into despair,
it’s nice to know that someone is there;
You can avoid the pain, when only you remain.
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7. |
Slow Time--2021 version
04:58
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Slow Time
(© 1988 Walter Ehresman)
The days and the nights blend together
in the times that we spend alone;
A twilight of the mind, counting ticks while slowly dying,
and staring blankly at the phone.
You feel that you’ve something to offer
in the closeness that adds up to two,
but the wounds from the past breed the fear that holds you fast
from ever trying someone new.
[chorus]
If we could see through each other’s eyes--
those earnest ideas (real or imagined),
any pain would be justified by the
quantum jump between;
To see what we really mean;
Imploring, but unheard, unseen.
Misperception kills its share of those
who chance to gamble out of the slow, slow time.
Some kind of situation with someone,
could happen almost any day--
two people killing time, telling jokes and telling lies,
with nothing really much to say.
It could lead in some direction,
or take them just nowhere at all;
The delicate balance of interaction,
just a blink, hopin’ it don’t stall.
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8. |
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Shadow of a Love
(© 1997 Walter Ehresman)
He keeps it in that special place,
'cause he can't bear to see her face;
He opens it up anyway,
At least 100 times a day, and
all the years that brought him here just
fall away when she appears;
He folds it back up, turns away,
he's got a few more miles today to go--
it's just the shadow of a love we'll never know.
It's hard when you feel things so strong, but
every time you speak it's wrong--
the words they tangle up inside,
you've got to show what you must hide; and
she rode that string as best she could, much
longer than he thought she would, and
in the end, when things went bad,
she raged about what they might've had, but no--
it's just the shadow of a love we'll never know.
[chorus]
He's remembering a feeling
that for most of us will never come at all;
Just four aces in the dealin'; so if you get that hand...
you better take it all.
He checks into a cheap motel;
The dingy sheets, the musty smell;
The snow it flickers on the screen--
white noise drowning silent screams, and
he thinks about a thing so rare;
He turns to look but she's not there.
He pulls the picture out again,
it's faded now, but not to him--it glows;
It's just the shadow of a love we'll never know.
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9. |
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Flood the Empty Quarter
(© 2010 Walter Ehresman)
They say the best laid plans are subject to the law of Murphy,
and that countin' chickens early leads to havin' none at all.
So be careful what you wish for, or your hopes will all be emptied,
and I would not wish this feelin' on a man too proud to fall.
I could see no signs of fault lines; I could feel no earthly tremors;
To me, our love's foundation seemed so solid all way down;
And just because we stumble doesn't mean our legs are broken,
but the California earthquake brought the whole thing to the ground.
[chorus]
If I had one speck of silver for each moment that you hurt me,
they would find me buried under a shining mountain to the sky;
Just one tiny drop of water for each time you made me cry--
I could flood the Empty Quarter, and my river won't run dry.
I had visions of us walking hand in hand through life's duration;
I would wake to see love sparkle from the depths of your blue eyes;
But your feeling for me faded like a sun-bleached sign in Pecos,
and the day you chose to tell me was the day you said goodbye.
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10. |
HWY 149--2021 version
06:56
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HWY 149
(© 2002 Walter Ehresman)
Heading south from Gunnison, on Highway 149;
Hopin’ that the pass don’t freeze ‘fore I get to the other side;
Lake City ain’t so small as it once used to be,
But it might just far enough to refuel my sanity.
These ain’t times for thinking–you can see it on TV,
in the paper, on the movie screen; this ain’t no time to be
asking questions of a kind where the answers slow you down,
and fill your mind with X-ray eyes every time you look around.
[chorus]
Our lives are managed by
bloodless accountants,
amoral climbers,
silk suit assassins,
and teflon bureaucrats.
Climbing through the aspens–
soft breezes blowin’,
doesn’t stop the knowin’
that all of this is goin’ soon
just to keep some bastard fat.
I remember as a child, climbing through these silver trees;
Poking through forgotten mines; tossing lines into the stream;
And when I scrambled to the top, raised my head to look back down–
there was no sign Man’s blighted hand ever touched that virgin ground.
There’s somethin’ ‘bout the mountains; there’s somethin’ ‘bout the air;
When the tenth lie of the day is heard, I find my memories wander there.
So I packed the truck, shut off the lights, put on Willie for the ride,
and I cleared my mind of sadder truths out on Highway 149.
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11. |
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The Road to Boquillas
(© 2008 Walter Ehresman)
On May 27, we cinched up the bags and turned south in the hot Texas wind;
Juan Vasquez hung back and he said with a grin, “My old friend, so we do this again?”.
And we rode through the night, then laid up in the day in a gulch just this side of Pearsall;
And Mono sang love songs while deep in mescal, but somehow we avoided patrols.
I’d dreamed of betrayal and dark rain approaching and sensing erosion of time;
So I sent out the word to our far-scattered band for some work (with some fun on the side).
We’d all been here before, through the lies and the war, and the speeches of men steeped in gall;
And some of us think of the way things have gone, and then some of us don’t think at all.
Down at The Pagoda, the bottles lay stacked and the night was too close to the day;
Hidalgo and Boni came down from upstairs with no money and not much to say;
But another girl looked as tall Boni walked by, then she grabbed him where business is done;
So he traded his jacket with a wink and a smile and went back for more use of his gun.
When light rimmed the mountains, we crawled from the bar; Federales, they drove us from town;
And Mono and Vasquez, they dragged Willie out, with Hidalgo nowhere to be found.
And back at the border, we looked worse for wear, but the guard barely opened his eyes;
“We all come from Sweden,” I said with a grin, and that hombre, he waved us on by!
In Piedras Negras, we met with Morales to pick up the primer and cord;
Juan Vasquez worked out on Morales a bit so that he’d be a man of his word.
In the desert, their camp was sure not hard to find, with the lights and the dogs and the wire;
But Mono crept through like a smoke in the night, and the whole damn thing blossomed in fire!
Northwest through El Moral and on past Jimenez we followed the river through June;
Got soaked in the crossings, and dry in the walking, and laid low beneath too much moon.
They sent out the choppers, and doubled patrols, but there was not a trace to be found;
We feasted on catfish beside Amistad, and slept in mesquite far from towns.
Willie went out as the sun burned away, to scout out some difficult ground;
When he got back from Langtry, his face had gone crooked and we had to help our friend sit down;
The smell was all wrong, but he’d crept slowly on, and saw 26 shapes up ahead;
When he brought his light in, “Fortune Favors the Bold” was carved in the chests of the dead.
Our faces turned grim as we set out again, ‘cross the Sierra del Carmen so dry;
Now we rode through the open, ‘cause everyone knows that nobody comes through this alive;
The road to Boquillas was splattered in blood and the stares of men who don’t look back;
And though our own band felt we tread the right path, still the writing was faint on the map.
The bites and the stings may not bring the beast down, and a man can’t hold back the high tide;
But when history’s written, please hold back a page for the men who were willing to try.
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12. |
Nocturnal--2022 version
04:51
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Nocturnal
(© 2008 Walter Ehresman)
Bone-creeper, alligator with a special eyeball right on you;
Root-slipper, stone tripper, and there really ain’t that much you can do.
Night’s falling, and you’re stalling, but you know you got to step ‘cross that line;
Knees shaking, but you’re making some decisions that could change that in time.
[chorus]
Nocturnal–a creature of the night;
They call me nocturnal–you cannot use those things you bring from the light.
All the places that you roam in the day ain’t the same when Amun drops from the sky,
and all the pathways that your feet like to walk will not lead you to the same lullaby.
Heresy, but I think you’ll agree, when your vision starts to warmly grow,
that bat time leaves you feeling so fine, and you’ll come to fear that Eastern glow.
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13. |
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Ice Age Cell Phone
(© 2021 Walter Ehresman)
Just another bad driver, looking at their phone;
There’s someone at the wheel, but there’s nobody home;
I had a funny notion as they weaved side-to-side;
Adaptive evolution peering through the mists of time.
[chorus 1]
Cave man livin’ with an Ice Age flair—keep your head on a swivel, man, there’s danger everywhere;
Not much future for awareness not maintained—that guy who checked his signal’s been reduced to a bloodstain.
You might get lucky once, but listen up to what I say:
--‘cause when that saber-toothed tiger comes, you’ll have to put that phone away.
We’ve got a lack of critters in the country today
to cull our herd of those with no attention to pay;
Instead of being dinner for the local carnivore,
they’ll take out you and me, then put the pedal to the floor;
I think I see the answer, staring right in the face—
a little basement cloning, find the plans in cyberspace;
Release ‘em by the road, let nature take its course;
Natural selection of the road’s oblivious.
[chorus 2]
Cave man livin’ with an Ice Age flair—keep your head on a swivel, man, there’s danger everywhere;
Not much future for awareness not maintained—that guy who checked his signal’s been reduced to a bloodstain.
You may think posting selfies is your highest task today
--but when that freakin’ wooly mammoth comes, you’ll have to put that phone away;
--and when that three ton sloth comes, you’ll have to put that phone away;
--and when that saber-toothed tiger calls, you’ll have to put that phone away.
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Walter Ehresman San Miguel De Allende, Mexico
Called "the quintessential Austin DIY artist" by famed local disc jockey Charlie Martin , Walter Ehresman was an eccentric presence in the Austin music scene from the '80s until his 2015 move to Mexico. A prolific songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and recording artist...and a restless musical spirit, always looking for something new, expressed with fearlessly honest, socially-conscious lyrics. ... more
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