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Twenty Three

by Keith Jolie

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1.
Strings 03:53
Bm G I’m on my last set of strings G Bm Pulled them straight, wound them up and let them sing C G Bm They lie like lovers vibrating never touching G Song after song they get weakened Bm Bm Until they’re pulled too far, pushed too long Am C G And they break, under the weight of their final song Am C On the floor over there all wound in bronze G Bm played a love removed that still stayed strong Am G After too many nights cold and alone Bm C It broke on the bridge of the lonesome song Am C After time and time and time again G Bm The second string got tired of trying Am G After pleading for a man that was left behind Bm C It broke a hole in the chord of his desperate crying Refrain Am C An anthem with the highest refrain G Bm passion of youth forever remain Am G And shrill was the sound of that thunderous chord Bm C snapped in the sweat of the crowd wanting more Am C A love song drifts on the quiet of night G Bm While lovers bask in the softening light Am G As they wind themselves like so many refrains Bm C Unbroken silence is all that remains Am C In a quiet chord G Bm A choir sang that would please the lord Am G But before their songs could rise together Bm C The lowest string was silenced forever
2.
Carolina 03:39
Verse Bm | | | E | | | F#m | | | | | | | Chorus D | | | E | | | F#m | | | x2 1 That summer was like gin and rain I met you in a house of pain I'd save you from the wet and empty streets You told me that I had a style And would I waste away a while A song a dream a heart what would it be? For three long years we tempted fate The clock would wind and fill our plate Embracing every crutch and vice you’d bring Every taste was bitter sweet The whole charade felt so complete Sinking into scenery that we made -Refrain- Oh Carolina Where are you bringing me tonight? Oh Carolina Where are you bringing me tonight? Now I wake up feeling scared From feelings that you put in there You never used to think that much of me Now I’m hell bent on losing you So this is what I’ve got to do Chasing down this madness that we sing refrain One more drink and one more show One more thing that I can’t know One more call that rings and rings One more song that never sings I’m tearing down old highway 1 in the movies I would have a gun Halfway from Gatineau to Montmagny Oh Carolina Where are you Bringing me tonight?
3.
Bad Boy 04:37
I've been a bad boy their going to send me off to prison We better figure just what it is that we've been missing And I'd put it on my tab but I've got no credit left My pictures on the wall and there's a noose around my neck Refrain I need to settle my accounts Just tell me what I owe I'm looking for the ways I need to come clean before I go And if you hold my hand I promise that I'd never let you down And if you hold my hand You'd never see things you don't need to see So tell me if you'll help me to come Clean ----- I want to settle my accounts take the last train out of town find a place out by the ocean where i can watch the sun go down Oh fire I'd like to take you with me,we would burn into the night we'd greet the morning sunshine, rage against the dying light Refrain Time's one thing I'm short of and I'm running low on cash I've got love that's like the ocean and style that's bright and brash We could do it like the movies and drive towards the sky I think they're closing in now there's not much time to try Refrain
4.
Secrets 06:11
I’ve had secrets all my life Some of them wrong And some of them right What about you Will I laugh or will I weep will I stumble or will I leap what will I do? what will I do? I caught a standby ticket to the farthest place away Asked around and tracked you down I had something left to say And words don’t often fail me Except when I’m with you When my head is in another place And my body’s next to you Driving in the night-time It gives me space to think When there’s no wine and only time And I’m trying not to sink Further into where I know I shouldn’t go with you So I pull into at a rest-stop Instead of driving through Why is it so hard to pull this line? Why is it so hard to pull this line? Why is it so hard to pull Why is it so hard to pull Why is it so blessed hard to pull this thorny line? Somehow I get this feeling that things will turn out right So I turn down the radio And fumble for the light My eyes are weighed down heavy And my voice is sounding frail But I still need to tell you My coffin’s short some nails
5.
Through the stage lights and shadows that hung in the room Saw your lips move to my song and my song moved to you I was two thousand miles from anywhere I thought you'd want to be --------------------------------------- CHORUS My head feels like Iron I had a bad day I need to write another line But I need something to say Took the train down to meet you But spent the week in my hotel And now I'm sick and I miss you my love Yea I'm sick and I miss you my love ----------------------------------------- We stayed up all night getting lonely you and me Talked our way through the dark ignoring something on TV And I tried and I tried and I tried to get through to you CHORUS I don't think I've slept since I saw you walk away I couldn't find the meaning then I’ve got no more cards to play But I'm rolling the dice like it'll pay for my last breath
6.
Steel 03:46
Keep on going to that same old bar Every day at three, maybe just one Same place where I met my old lady When the money was flush and booze and girls were fun But she's 5 years my ex and the place changed hands The reasons are gone and the signs faded out I guess I keep hoping for one last chance to finally hold my head up Finally hold my head up and Steel, it feels like steel It's fired and forged and hard and cold and real It doesn't remind me of all that it was It's a hell of a backwards deal And steel, it feels like steel Streets full of holes from the trucks pulling out Leaving bones where there used to be buildings Sign says for lease there's a lineup outside Payday loans that need to be services Art's the new steel can't open old mills My boots in the closet nothing can stop it Something to make I'm good with my hands I don't want to Take I'm a man but Steel, it feels like steel It's fired and forged and hard and cold and real It doesn't remind me of all that it was It's a hell of a backwards deal And steel, it feels like steel
7.
I heard I could use some healing give me something to make me well I've got questions I can't answer give me something that I can tell You told me that we were the winners give me something that I can spend You told me that there were no answers give me something that tells me when I've got you to hold close and some time to let go and don't want to feel what I never should know and I want to live and I don't want to lie give me something-------- to make it all worth while The streets of Yorkville are cold now and I'm walking away from the town I've got people that I need to contact Give me something to track them down If everything isn't for pleasure If everything good comes with pain If you and I are not brothers Give me something to hide all the shame I've got you to hold close and some time to let go and don't want to feel what I never should know and I want to live and I don't want to lie give me something-------- to make it all worth while I remember when we were both children And all we could do was sing In the morning we'd wake with the sunrise In the evening we gently would fade Today I was given to envy Surrounded and put in this land Give me something that I can return to Give me something on which I can stand I've got you to hold close and some time to let go and don't want to feel what I never should know and I want to live and I don't want to lie give me something-------- to make it all worth while Where are you I can't see I need to hear I need to be So call my name Call out loud Pleaaassseeeee Give something to me
8.
I saw the stars, for the first time in the city With the phosphorus glow and the need down below For the safety from the darkness of the life It was the first time and it shattered like plaster You can't bet all your chips on the things we won't miss tonight I saw the fire, pouring out of the sunrise Burning everything down that was pinned to the ground From the fear of me being set free It was the first time and it sparkled like water You can't bet all your chips on the way that we'll kiss tonight I had the line, on the crime of the decade Painstakingly planned to the ounce and the man Stealing your heart far away You read my body you were faster and smarter and I lost all my chips on the feel of your lips when you smiled
9.
Running 05:27
100 miles from Sault Ste. Marie, I kind of wonder where I'm supposed to be All I love in the rear view mirror I wind my car around Lake Superior And I'm running Stop my car just to pick up some gas Can’t remember when I talked to you last I’ve got miles to go before I get to sleep The hills are higher but I'm getting deep And I'm running Refrain The great lake shoreline and the north's mighty shield Miles of prairies and the Rockies foothills Most recent entry in the book of young men That go so far just to see where they stand Passing signs with names in a blur Trees and shadows look the same anymore Silent stars light the sky like a dream Constellations unlike ever seen And I'm running Piles of stones left behind long ago A younger man than you likely know Once dreamed of fortune or what he might be Little road signs to guide me Running from the darkness Running from the sea Running from some fear and possibility Running to a friend Running from my home Running to a love cause I can’t stand to be alone Refrain I’m Runnin I’m Runnin I’m Runnin
10.
She 05:38
She She writes about loving She writes about pain She writes about sinning She swears she’ll never sin again She writes about journeys She writes about being free She writes about her dead end job And the child she’ll never see --------------- Refrain She’s amused to see me scribbling Catching truth on a napkin stain She’s laughing at my frailty She throws clauses at my pain And she knows that in the end I’m going to try again ------------ She writes about the rapist She writes about gold She writes about the loving She writes about the old She writes about her mother She writes about her god She writes about her fear at night When she goes out for a walk Refrain She writes about “I love you” She writes about “Set me free” She writes about the danger She can tell nobody sees She writes about mistakes Places she was afraid She writes about the dust balls That collect around her bed She writes about her teacher She writes about his wife She writes about her innocence She applies heat to the knife She writes about body smells From underneath the door She tells the waiter go away She asks the bartender for more Refrain She expresses her life in symbols Her life’s a ritual She takes wine with her morning tea There’s bread in the bowl She’s circumcised and actualized Satori is her whole She’s a tiny little baby And yet she’s far too old She objects to mercy killing She laced the food with drugs She took one of the holy vows But she forgot which one it was Her doors are all unlocked, But the closets all have keys I wonder if I’m dreaming her Or if she is dreaming me

about

Twenty three

A car pulled off the highway in hesitation, a pair of work boots sitting in a closet, the repeated plea of ‘give me something’; gritty songs soaked with questions of usefulness and purpose saturate the latest album from Keith Jolie.

With twenty three, Keith Jolie presents an album where the song stories take front stage with vocals that range from tender to angry and broken. From the opening “Strings” through to the closing “She”, twenty three is bookended by consideration for the story from the perspective of the strings, pictured as characters in the stories they tell, through to the muse (She) that inspires them.

Between the bookends, are a series of stories of seeking answers. “Carolina” hides the anguish and anger that results from being deceived in the clothing of a joyful anthem that begs to be sung. “Bad Boy” and “Secrets” take a slight turn towards americana/country with stories of bad choices, regrets and could-have-beens.

As the album progresses, the levels get turned up with “Steel” and “Give Me Something” that scream of the perspective of age and experience and what is left at the end of the day or a life of work. “Running” a Canadian anthem of a young man that travels from Ontario to the rockies like so many before.

Twenty three has been a solitary exercise for Keith Jolie who performed, engineered, and produced all the songs on this album. The songs are a collection that were written over the last few years with a few exceptions. “She” is a reprisal from an EP that was put out on cassette tape in 1993, while “Strings” was written and recorded in the last week of working on the album; bookends both chronologically and in the sequence of the album.

This is the latest album from Keith Jolie who’s discography includes:

1993: The Turn EP
1996: Songs from a Black Notebook
1998: City So Cold
2008: Sidewalk Stories, Endsville album. lyrics and music written by Keith Jolie.
2015: The Beauty ep
2017: twenty three

credits

released December 15, 2017

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Keith Jolie Toronto, Ontario

Blues and roots inspired

City-Folker

Background

Keith started singing in music bars in the Brantford area in the 1990s. through a residency at punk music venue The Turnaround,and solo gigs with bigger bands he figured out how to earn the attention of an audience.

Continuing to write, record and perform and is now living in Hamilton. His latest album "twenty three" is due out late 2017.
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