Lyrics

CALLED HOME
words/music by Ethan Taylor Sellers

Oh Billy, I hear your father calling you
Across the field and through the gloam
It's getting cold tonight and soon the wind will blow
Your dinner waits for you, it's time to come back home.

Oh Billy, I hear your momma calling you
Your fields are plowed, your seeds are sown
Your labor's fruits revealed when harvest moon has shown
But now the fields are dark and it's time to come back home.

The soil you've tilled is rich, the streams run clear
The crops you've sown today increase from year to year
Just as certain as the sunrise fills the land with life and light
So too, we all must take our rest in the stillness of the night.

Oh Billy, I hear your sister calling you
And it's time you should be going
From inside the house, I can see a candle glowing
Rest easy, Billy dear, it's your time to come home.
I'll listen for your voice, when it's my time to come home.

GLASGOW SMILE
words/music by Ethan Taylor Sellers

New York Yankee born one day in the US Irish embassy
Alex Morrill swore one day he'd get himself dual cit'zenry
He packed his bags to travel light and booked himself on Budget Air
He stayed awake the night before and fell asleep once in the air

He woke up several hours after the o'ernight passage was to land
He found himself at a customs desk without a passport in his hand
A red-faced man breathed down his neck, "Where are ye papers Yankee lad?"
"I lost them en route to Dublin, and I'm afraid that I've been had."

They let him out on recognizance to make the best of his holiday
He took a tour, he bought a kilt, went to a pub to hear pipers play
The regulars were generous, but Alex Morrill made one mistake
They brought him ale, they brought him haggis, but he dinna finish off his plate.

"Ya donna like ye haggis, lad? What kinda Scotsman d'ya think y'are?"
"Git outta Glasgow, ya Yankee snot, and to a fairy Shamrock bar!"
"Fine with me," young Alex sniffed, "I'm on my way to the emerald isle."
"Good luck, young lad, but before ye go, we wanna give ye a Glasgow smile."

THE PILE
words/music by Ethan Taylor Sellers

A clear and sunny morning went dark forever more
When first we heard the impacts and then we felt the horror
They ran into the towers, they didn't hesitate
Without a thought for themselves, they bravely met their fate.

They acted with courage, they gave their lives
They left behind mothers, daughters, wives
They were our brothers, our friends, our sons
It could’ve been you, me, or anyone

The sky came crashing down, the gates of Hell yawned wide
The mighty towers destroyed, six thousand souls inside
Shrouded in smoke, and breathing ash
Pulverized concrete, and vaporized glass

So we called on our armies to lay down their lives
They left behind mothers, daughters, wives
To hunt for mirages in the desert sun
And liberate strangers at the point of a gun.

Paid plenty in human cost
Killed twenty for each we lost
But fickle allegiance swayed
We broke it and walked away

Ten years later, I held my newborn son
And I swear I'll never let him fight in a war that won't be won
His blood won't be oil in the gears of a machine
That turns our noblest impulses into something so obscene.

We must question power and see through lies
Or watch as we’ve become what we despise
Let's teach this lesson to our daughters and sons
An eye for an eye blinds everyone.

BALLAD OF SAINT JAMES
words/music by Ethan Taylor Sellers

Come all ye sinners, on down to Saint James
He'll pour absolution and dull all your pains
With full glass in hand and a room full of friends
Packed wall to wall until the last call
Brings this night's service to end.

The barkeep's at work on his masters
On my right might be this year's Nobel
Who talks to a plumber on a hot night in summer
At Jimmy's, you never can tell.

Some folks could not understand her
They're hung up on style and decor,
The selection of beers, and stylish veneers
To me, the people mean more.

Come all ye sinners, on down to Saint James
He'll pour absolution and dull all your pains
With full glass in hand and a room full of friends
Packed wall to wall until the last call
Brings this night's service to end.

Old Jimmy bought her as a young man
And gave her his life and his heart
Flipping burgers and fries 'til the day that he died
And the city tried to tear her apart.

They tried to take away our tavern
The place where the neighbors all meet
Where the black and the white converse and don't fight
I wish the whole world was so sweet.

Come all ye sinners, on down to Saint James
He'll pour absolution and dull all your pains
With full glass in hand and a room full of friends
Packed wall to wall until the last call
Brings this night's service to end.

I wasn't there when she closed
The bar was too packed to get in
I was sad to hear it, the law's letter not spirit
Kept her closed and that was a sin.

Come all ye sinners, on down to Saint James
He'll pour Absolut in a cigarette haze
Time spent with locals is never in vain
You can talk out your ass, you can listen to jazz
And drink 'til the taps are all drained.

So come all ye sinners, on down to Saint James
He'll pour absolution and dull all your pains
With full glass in hand and a room full of friends
Packed wall to wall until the last call
Brings this night's service to end.