Get all 14 Julie Jurgens releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Townes Played Baseball, The Body Electric, I Was in the House When the House Burned Down, Appointed Tasks, My Backwards Walk, To Daddy, Brand New Day, Live at Transistor September 2013, and 6 more.
1. |
Once Was Mine
03:53
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I am just a farmer’s daughter
And I can’t trust my feet to go much farther
But I’ll roll up my jeans and wade into that rushing river
Could she have been saved even if I gave all I had to give her?
That’s what I thought at the time
Oh, love that once was mine
I’m no saint, but does that make me a sinner?
And I might die of loneliness this winter
Unless I pull on my boots and trudge through the snow
To get to the one I love
I cared for them more than they ever could know
But I showed it so poorly indeed
But I’d get it right this time
Oh, love that once was mine
I am a girl of constant sorrow
And love I cannot beg, steal or borrow
If I knew what to say to make you stay
I’d speak it til the day that I died
Still you come and you go like you don’t even know
That this fool has learned to be kind
And she’d get it right, this time
Oh, love that once was mine
Oh, I’d get it right this time
Oh, love that once was mine
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2. |
Thief
03:42
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I’m a rambler, I’m a gambler
I’ve been running since I fell down
I’m a taker, a heartbreaker
I’ve been running since I fell down
And I am a thief who cannot be
Trusted with love
Trusted with love
Trusted with love
I went out to the wheat fields
The same color as your hair
I went out to the wheat fields
Hoped I’d find some comfort there
But I only found a thief who cannot be
Trusted with love
Trusted with love
I’m a dreamer, I’m a schemer
I’ve been telling it all over town
I’m a pretender, out on a bender
I’ve been selling it all over town
That I am a thief who cannot be trusted with love
Trusted with love
Trusted with love
I went down to the ocean
The same color as your eyes
I went down to the ocean
Looking for a friend of mine
But I only found a thief who cannot be
Trusted with love
Trusted with love
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3. |
Appointed Tasks
03:52
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Would you ask me to dance?
Catch my mistakes if I gave you the chance?
Would you still love me when
I told the truth about where I’d been?
Would you fill in the space
That’s left behind after falling
From grace?
La dee da dee di
At night I sit and count up the missing
I reckon up the leavers and the left behinds
Before I know it I’m standin’ and cryin’ in the kitchen
Drunk on loss and cheap red wine
But don't have time for regrets
Life is short and getting shorter all the time
Our threads are getting tangled
When they should be neatly tied
After all the only tasks that matter
Are to love
And die
La dee da dee di
I would ask you to dance
Fix your mistakes if you gave me the chance
I would still love you when
You told the truth about who you’d been with
If you'd fill in the space
That’s left behind after falling
From grace
La dee da dee di
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4. |
Bottle In The Way
04:33
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Where did you go?
I lost track of your tracks in the snow
Where have you been?
Did you give up or did you just give in?
Cry baby cry
Old enough to know better, but too young to die
Fix yourself with another drink
You can’t hold my hand if you don’t know where I am and you’re too drunk to sing
And you’ll love me tomorrow
And you loved me yesterday, so you say
But you’re never around when I need you
No love today, there’s a bottle in the way
I am a mouse-trap with no mouse
And you are a household with no house
And never the twain shall meet
The river that you’re riding on sails you right away from me—
If I had eight arms, maybe I could get things done
But when it comes to loving you, I might as well have none
I am a fuse-box with no fuse
And you are a loser with nothing left to lose
And you’ll love me tomorrow
And you loved me yesterday, so you say
But you’re never around when I need you
No love today, there’s a bottle in the way
I’m a saxophone reed that’s been left to dry
I can’t play anymore so I cry, baby, cry
Can’t play anymore so I sigh, baby, sigh
I can’t wait anymore, but I tried, baby, tried
Where did you go?
I’ve lost track of your tracks in the snow
Where have you been?
I fell asleep waiting up to let you in
And you’ll love me tomorrow
And you loved me yesterday, so you say
But you’re never around when I need you
No love today, there’s a bottle in the way
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5. |
Brand New Bike
03:10
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Layin’ in the weeds
Starin’ at the sun
Layin’ in the weeds
Wishin’ I could have some fun
Have some fun
With someone I like
But the boy that I love
Just rode away on his new bike
He said I’ll see you Friday
He said I’ll see you then
He said I really like you
But my knees they cannot bend
They cannot bend
Oh, my knees they cannot bend
And my heart is way too small
To play a game of pretend
Sing a song of love
Sing a song of hate
Sing a song of dreams
That always have to wait
Have to wait
Oh, they always have to wait
Oh, the next time I see that man
I will not hesitate
Some flew east
And some flew west
But I’m gonna fly
To the one that I like best
Some flew north
And some flew south
The next time I see that man
I just might punch him in the mouth
Layin’ in the weeds
Starin’ at the sun
Layin’ in the weeds
Wishin’ I could have some fun
Have some fun
With someone I like
But the boy that I love
Just rode away on his new bike
Oh, the boy that I love
Just rode away on his new bike
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6. |
A Whole
04:47
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Whatever story that needs to be told
Has been told, again and again
But I’d like to know if you’re willing to try
To get through to that old story’s end
So let’s start from the back
And move forward
Let’s start in the middle or so
Just whatever you do
Don’t pretend that you’re through
‘Cause you’ll always be
Leaving a whole
A whole
So John, he went down to the basement
And Mary, she ran up the stairs
And all your commotions
Were feeding emotions
Till you screamed it just wasn’t fair
Say, where do you think you are going?
Say, where do you know you have been?
Are you ready to say you just lost your way
Again, and again, and again?
A whole
A whole
A whole new life and you’re
Willing to spite everyone
Who has tried to pitch in
So, where do you think we should start from?
Say, how much do you think we should do?
How ‘bout keeping it goin', despite all the moanin’
And doing it till we get through?
A whole…
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7. |
Brick (kapow!)
04:19
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Is love, is love a brick to the head?
Is love, is love too many feets hanging off of my bed?
Is it when you say that's not what you said?
Is love, is love, a brick to the head?
Walk, walk for a year and a day
I'll be the ground beneath your feet
Walk because you refuse to stay
Walk because you can't fall asleep
You’ll be a happy man
In your one man parade
When you reach that heppy land
Fur fur away
Is love, is love a brick to the head?
Is love, is love too many feets hanging off of my bed?
Is it when you say that's not what you said?
Is love, is love, a brick to the head?
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8. |
Left Behind
04:18
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Maple syrup
A guitar string
A bent spoon and
A vending machine ring
A stain on my pillow
A taste in my mouth
A song in my head that I can’t get out
A Polaroid camera
A book of Shakespeare
These are the things that prove they were here
All these things that I’ve kept
Can’t replace what they took
At night while they slept
Should have pressed them between the pages of a book
Maybe then they’d know the pain of
Being left behind
Like all those things that they once owned
That indifference has made mine
A love note in Russian
Some keys on a ring
A scent on my blanket
And sad songs to sing
A t-shirt that’s threadbare
A bad charcoal sketch
A hat meant for winter
A mark on my neck
A hole in the wall
An unmade bed
These are the things that remain when they’ve left
All these things that I’ve kept
Can’t replace what they took
At night while they slept
I wrote down our story in the pages of a book
Maybe someday they’ll know the pain of
Being left behind
Like all those things that they once owned
That indifference has made mine
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9. |
Object
05:54
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I am an object to be acted upon
I learned this the night we passed out on the lawn
You said you loved me in the cold light of dawn
I am an object to be acted upon
I lost my soul in Georgia on a midnight train
To a boy who told riddles and would never speak plain
He tried to make his mark, but he left only a stain
I lost my soul in Georgia on a midnight train
All I have left is a handle of Jack and some cigarettes
All I need is a jagged edge and someplace to bleed
A death that’s quiet, peaceful and discreet
That’s good enough for a girl like me
I lost my heart in Portland to Lili Marlene
She refused my offer, but accepted the blame
Ever since that night, I’ve felt nothing but shame
I lost my heart in Portland to Lili Marlene
I lost my will to live in the back of a car
…
...
I lost my will to live in the back of a car
And all I have left is a handle of Jack and some cigarettes
All I need is a jagged edge and someplace to bleed
A death that’s quiet, peaceful and discreet
That’s all that’s left for a girl like me
I am an object to be acted upon
I learned this the night we passed out on the lawn
You said you loved me in the cold light of dawn
But I am not a person -- just an object to be acted upon
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10. |
Hero
06:36
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She was a hero
Without a quest
She spent her life trying
To pass his tests
She wanted to be worthy
She wanted to be true
Sometimes it's appalling what love
Can put us through
What love can make us do
He was a Bluebeard
With secrets to spare
He'd tell her he loved her
As he pulled her by the hair
He was not worthy
And he was not true
That poor girl deserved better
She deserved someone like you
Someone like you
I take up a gauntlet for the fallen ones
I take all these chances for those who had none
I'll finish the stories that they'd scarcely begun
I sing all my songs for her
Because he cut out her tongue
She was my mother
And she was a girl
She was a poet
Lost to the world
I might be the best thing
That she ever made
But still I can't find the time
To put flowers on her grave
And lord, I’m so ashamed
And he was my father
And he was a boy
Everything he loved
He had to destroy
He burned down the house
And he tore himself apart
He had such a sickness laying heavy on his heart
If he even had a heart
And I am a fighter
Bound to my cause
I find the helpless
And I pull them from the dragon's jaws
I am a seeker
And I am a fool
Sometimes it’s amazing what love can make you do
For someone like you
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11. |
Open Door
02:58
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Settle down
The door is open
Settle in
No one’s gonna pin you down
Come on by
I’ve been hoping
Every day
That you’d come around
Cuz I’ve been sick
I’ve been laid so low
I forgot
All that I used to know
I’ve been asleep
Letting old wounds heal
I’ve been writing a book
About how lost hearts feel
Settle down
My hands are empty
Settle in
Cuz my bed’s been too
Come on down
Have you met me
I’m a broken girl
Still in love with you
I’ve been sick
I’ve been laid so low
I forgot
All that I used to know
I’ve been asleep
Letting old wounds heal
I’ve been writing a book
About how lost hearts feel
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12. |
No Constellation
03:27
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I am a little church
No great cathedral
I’m one flower in a field
A pilgrim who will not yield
I am no great cathedral
But I shall stand
And kisses are a better fate
Than wealth or wisdom
But it may not always be so
So let’s go, there’s a hell of a universe
Next door
And I’m sure
That you are the one
That I’ve been waiting for
I am a single star
No constellation
Though my worth is yet unknown
As I shine brightly alone
I am no constellation
But I’ll lead you home
And kisses are a better fate
Than wealth or wisdom
But it may not always be so
So let’s go, there’s a hell of a universe
Next door
And I’m sure
That you are the one
That I’ve been waiting for
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Julie Jurgens Chicago, Illinois
A singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist whose fearless, empathetic songs draw upon an upbringing in rural Illinois fraught with experiences of poverty, mental illness and domestic violence, sung from the perspective of a survivor and advocate who is mad as hell and determined to stand her ground. .pic by Joe Mazza-Brave Lux. ... more
Julie Jurgens recommends:
Love or Something Similar EP
by Wooden Wing
Impeccable girl&boy harmonies, wickedly witty lyrics, and songs that get stuck in your head but also have deeper layers. So good.
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the original teenage rage!
by Teenage Rage
Tin pan alley meets 21st century raging against the dying of the light.
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Tom Waits + Randy Newman + soul = Mutts. A nicer group of lads you'll never meet. Piano, upright bass, and a growling baritone will cure what ails ya.
go to albumIf you like Julie Jurgens, you may also like:
Michelle Stodart’s folk music captures hope in melancholy, addressing the transformational aspects of the most challenging times.
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Stunningly beautiful songs wrought with pedal steel and nylon-string guitar that cast mesmerizing melodic shapes.
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The Flowers That Bloom in Spring
by Kieran Kane & Rayna Gellert
Kieran Kane & Rayna Gellert offer up a stunning minimalist country record, conjuring huge emotions with little more than vocals & guitar.
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