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For Everyone (Especially You)

by John Louis

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1.
Ground 02:39
In Metarie and Covington Ones I love lay in the ground Gonna visit them again Leave this droning plain You sang your songs for everyone Told me as the light grew dim You’d go with me to Metarie Sing songs make stories Tornados raged through Illinois Memphis was the turning point But New Orleans was something else Resonated in our deeper selves Dixie Beer and Early Times Heat and sweat and reading signs Twenty-four miles ‘cross the causeway Saturday or someday In Metarie and Covington Planted something in the ground Time to go back there again Leave this frozen plane behind
2.
Pack up your beauty Pack up your inspirations Secrets and mysteries Affections and revelations In a box by the back door Close enough to grab on your way to the car When it’s gone too far Beer clocks in barrooms The calendar on the café wall They won’t lie to you But they don’t care at all Holes in the drywall Size of a fist, shape of a heart Say it’s gone too far Some things cannot stay In a box too long It’s not about light or air It’s just wrong It’s not the distance It’s about losing who you are Gone too far
3.
Another Day 03:46
It’s not time to go home yet There’s still half a glass of beer Sitting right here And one or two people I haven’t met Where to go if I can’t stay here My cars so cold I should stay off the road (for a while) And home is nowhere near Would you come if I called you On the phone right now And told you that I can’t be alone right now We’ve got a lot to lose But come to me Keep me company The only car on the highway The eastern sky Hints at light and So ends another day I’m not the son of an old man There’s no sage No wisdom of age To help me fix my plan Would you come if I called you On the phone right now And told you that I can’t be alone right now We’ve got a lot to lose But come to me Keep me company
4.
Woke semi-sober at 4 a.m. Went to the garage to check for dents On my car but it wasn’t there Hope I had the sense to leave it somewhere And it’s not in a ditch or impound lot Being inspected by a gungho cop Finding blood and hair on the grill From someone or something I wounded or killed I shut down the saloon Shut down the thoughts of you Shut down the years of abuse Shut down the shame and confusion Shut down the hard truths They’ll never let me loose Someday I might be a better man He’ll face the pain better than I can now More moving forward into the storms Fewer retreats to the familiar and warm But today I need to shut it all down So I drink enough to drown Still I don’t want to wreck your day If you see me you should go the other way I shut down the saloon Shut down the thoughts of you Shut down the years of abuse Shut down the shame and confusion Shut down the hard truths I shut down the saloon Shut down the thoughts of you Shut down the years of abuse Shut down the shame and confusion Shut down the hard truths They’ll never let me loose
5.
I’m sorry that it hurts so bad, I love you I’m sorry that it hurts so bad, I love you I’m sorry that it hurts so bad, hmmmmmmm I will leave the light on, I love you I’m sorry you were all alone, I love you I’m sorry you were all alone, I love you I’m sorry you were all alone, hmmmmmmm I will make you dinner, I love you I’m sorry you feel hopeless, I love you I’m sorry you feel hopeless, I love you I’m sorry you feel hopeless, hmmmmmmm I have hope for you, I love you I’m sorry that I let you down, I love you I’m sorry that I let you down, I love you I’m sorry that I let you down, hmmmmmmm I will do better, I love you It’s not your fault, I love you It’s not your fault, I love you It’s not your fault, hmmmmmmm I will stay beside you, I love you I’m sorry you are gone, I love you I’m sorry you are gone, I love you I’m sorry you are gone, hmmmmmmm I will bring you flowers, I love you I'm sorry, I love you
6.
I wish I remembered you I wish that it all rang true The pictures you’ve showed me The stories you’ve told me From back when I knew what you knew But I know I like your face And I can tell by the way your voice breaks You feel something for me Strong and deep That must have come from someplace That I wish I remembered I know I get angry at times Things that I say make you cry These lies in my head Should stay unsaid Sometimes they slip by But there’s a ring on my left hand That looks like a wedding band Did you put it there A veil on your hair In front of our families and friends That I wish I remembered
7.
I wish I remembered you I wish that it all rang true The pictures you’ve showed me The stories you’ve told me From back when I knew what you knew But I know I like your face And I can tell by the way your voice breaks You feel something for me Strong and deep That must have come from someplace That I wish I remembered I know I get angry at times Things that I say make you cry These lies in my head Should stay unsaid Sometimes they slip by But there’s a ring on my left hand That looks like a wedding band Did you put it there A veil on your hair In front of our families and friends That I wish I remembered
8.
Wake Me Up 03:30
Wake me up From this sad sad scene Whatever it takes Ice cubes or amphetamines Tell me something You’ve never told me before Something from your heart Or just a good joke Nothing can save me now But is there one more moment Pull me back For one more moment If I could I would tell you I’m sorry I always loved you Never wanted you to worry There’s a ticket stub Well-worn in my wallet Kept it all these years Take it if you want it Nothing can save me now But is there one more moment Pull me back For one more moment Voices break like light Through a crack in the drapes Is there really anything Left to say Nothing can save me now But is there one more moment Pull me back For one more moment
9.
After the funeral The coffee and the lemonade Aunts and uncles smoking in the shade Buttered ham bun sandwiches And sheet cake After the funeral Butchering the jokes you told Stories supposed to be meaningful Silent, awkward, hugs Meant to console The priest drank all the wine The people left when it was gone The church is dark Except for the exit signs After the funeral Boxing clothes bound for Goodwill Sorting treasures from landfill Separating the shadows From the wall I drank all the wine Watching the sun sink in the ground The house is dark Except for the lights I left on
10.
The Wind 02:56
You were here just now I could tell From the way the wind moved And the air felt Were you just checking in? Did you have something to say to me? Was there something on your mind? Something you wanted to see? I don’t look for you Like I used to I don’t think so much About that last year or two I still leaf through your records Sometimes I’ll put one on And dance alone in the sunroom With all the curtains drawn Sometimes the wind is just the wind Sometimes a chill is just a chill Sometimes I feel low When the air is still You were here just now I could tell
11.
Independence city limits Passing through for just a minute Long enough to see your house And remember why you're not in it Drive too fast on the dirt roads Pay no mind to signs or potholes Truck coming from the south Police report says it never even slowed I never heard your dad laugh again Stayed drunk almost to the end The life he got Not the life that should have been I see ghosts in your front yard Your mom looks good, she didn’t live so hard Kids in a game of wiffle ball You me and her are playing cards I heard she went around the bend That your sisters were raised by her friends The life they got Not the life that should have been Remember we’d go down to the river Wonder why we never jumped in Was it too fast, too deep, too dark Did we know how to swim? Black top ends, turns to gravel Phone lines strung with fishing tackle It’s quiet now on the bridge A good place to unravel Wrote letters never sent Vowed to visit never went The life we got Not the life that should have been
12.
Sleep Well 03:05
No one will sleep well tonight Don’t even bother closing your eyes This house is on fire I hear the sirens Singing goodbye, goodbye The needle is skipping in the center Of the record you put on An hour ago When you wanted to hear something Brooding and slow Now where did the time go to Where did it go? No one will sleep well tonight Don’t even bother closing your eyes This house is on fire I hear the sirens Singing goodbye, goodbye Maybe four fingers of whisky Is all that you needed The fuel to feed The internal combustion Of freedom and lust and Cognition of us and The sweetness No one will sleep well tonight

credits

released January 22, 2024

All songs written by John Louis
Produced by Dex Wolfe & John Louis (all except tracks 2, 4)
Engineered and mixed by Dex Wolfe (all except tracks 2, 4)
Produced by Shane Leonard (tracks 2, 4)
Recorded and mixed by Shane Leonard at The Bungaleau, Eau Claire WI (tracks 2, 4)
Cello recorded by Mark Ettinger at Lethe Lounge, New York NY
Piano, organ recorded by Sam Kassirer at Great North Sound Society, Parsonsfield ME (track 2)
Mastered by Pete Lyman at Infrasonic Sound in Nashville, TN

John Louis: vocals, acoustic guitar (all except track 7); electric guitar (track 3)
Jimmy Johnson: pedal steel (tracks 1, 3, 7, 9, 10, 11)
Hannah Hebl: background vocals (tracks 1, 3, 7, 9)
Clifton Nesseth: violin (track 8)
Mark Ettinger: cello (tracks 5, 6)
Robbie Weisshaar: upright bass (track 8)
Bryan Hanna: drums (tracks 3, 7, 10)
Jeremy Boettcher: bass (tracks 2, 4)
Ben Lester: pedal steel (tracks 2, 4); mellotron (track 2); Wurlitzer keyboard (track 4)
Sam Kassirer: piano, organ (track 2)
Siri Undlin: background vocals (tracks 2, 4)
Shane Leonard: drums, acoustic guitar (tracks 2, 4)
Dex Wolfe: banjo; piano (track 1); electric guitar; bass (tracks 1, 3, 7, 9, 10); acoustic guitar (tracks 3, 7, 9, 11); background vocals (track 3); drums (track 1); percussion (tracks 1, 3, 9, 11)

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John Louis Minneapolis, Minnesota

John Louis crafts heartworn country folk songs. John’s songs have garnered attention and awards from prestigious songwriting showcases including the Kerrville New Folk competition, Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Songwriter Showcase, and the Great River Folk Fest songwriter contest.

“John Louis is a good man writing great music up in Minneapolis.” Jon Dee Graham
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