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The Wayward Times

by Overman

supported by
Keith Kasyan
Keith Kasyan thumbnail
Keith Kasyan Overman's rollicking americana-rock has always been appealing. This new album displays a maturation of their skills. Most of these songs are about a period in the life of the band when a lot went right for them, but a lot more things went wrong. A series of minor tragedies, ranging from the loss of their home to the closing of their favorite bar, and even a rained-out yard party, became songwriting fodder for this album. This is folk music storytelling for the new millennium. Favorite track: Stuck in Traffic.
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1.
Stay Around 04:20
Lately it's been a struggle
 Just to say your name
 Without getting excited
 My friends think I'm strange

 I'm just an orphan in trouble
 When I get my kicks
 I keep hoeing the same dirt
 But nothing ever sticks

 It's a long road to travel
 All by yourself
 But it's like walking on water
 When you're with someone else

 Stay around
 And lay me down
 I'll be there when the morning
 Comes around
 I been keeping all my secrets
 With the ground

 Lately it's such a hassle
 Just to see your face
 Without breaking my big plans
 You’re testing all my self-restraint

 I've never known me no trouble
 I been an honest man
 Until I told Michael Sumrak that 
I never held your hand

 I drove straight to the station
 To turn myself in
 For running all those red lights
 And driving drunk on you again

 So stay around
 And lay me down 
I'll be there when the morning
 Rolls around 
I'm keeping all my secrets 
With you now

 She don't even mind all my singing
 She tell me when the line don't fit
 She sounds better than me on a country harmony
 I'll be the first to admit

 Our fire burns the bridge at Paloma
 My Spanish boots are breathing steam
 Can’t you come on over this evening
 I need to show you how I mean

 I don't want a band-aide companion 
I don't want no two-night stand 
I just wanna be your discretely cheap 
But always working for your loving man

 Stay around
 And lay me down 
I'll be here when the morning
 Shakes the ground
 I even keep my dirty secret
 With you now

 I never was one for secrets
 Anyhow
2.
On the west end of town The flagpoles are bending The rain is coming down sideways People are scared There's no Noah here They're sleeping on boats in their driveways In the hills of the heartland The children are dead Tired from puddles a-splashing But inside their homes The parents have learned The time it is less easy passing Grandma remembers the day of the storm She feels it again in her bones The days full of rain That blanket the Plains From Tulsa Up north to Chicago Now I have grown Too used to this joke The calm is still all too frightening The cellar is dank And it gives off a feel Of some place a bit more inviting The waters to the bridge On the river I live The day to the night is binding Don't take my home Lord, don't leave me alone A man does deserve but a reason Tomorrow on the dawn I'll be through them hills and gone Never again to be returning My towns been washed away Rain like spit on my face Watered down my hope into nothin' Occasionally I look to the sky And think on the ones I'll remember The Earth will be dry My family and I Will be on higher ground Come November We'll be on higher ground Come November We'll be on higher ground
3.
I been thinking real bad about myself this week Everything I say seems tongue-in-cheek Every word I write, a little less like me So I'd rather not bother Even trying to speak I been looking like a fool in my bathroom mirror My eyes just lie, my thoughts aren't clear I can smile real good, but it's not sincere So I close my eyes And I disappear And I think I'm going crazy, Mama Take me to the farm Circle all the wagons Sound all the alarms I think I'm going crazy, Pa You would be so proud The voices in my head, you said Someday would be this loud I keep working like a dog at a dead end job Staring at a door with a busted knob I'm too dumb to push, I'm too scared to knock So I waste my time Just glaring at the clock I want to fly until my wings give out Somewhere high above some no name town When my busted feathers hit the ground I won't get up I won't make a sound And I think I'm going crazy, Mama Take me to the farm Circle all the wagons Sound all the alarms I think I'm going crazy, Pa You would be so proud The voices in my head, you said Someday would be this loud I'm clinging to a memory Deep inside my mind I think I'm going crazy But I'm sure I'll be just fine I been thinking real good about myself this week Everything I say sounds just like me Every word I write seems so unique So I float like a barfly And sing like I believe
4.
I feel bad when I see the man Walking down the street With no hope, no dope No way to cope No shoes on his feet Where he gonna go What he gonna do I feel bad when I see the man I get mad when I see the man Living beyond his means Taking out a hundred loans to buy A two hundred foot TV Three SUVs Seven MPGs I get mad when I see the man I feel had when I see the man Lying through his polished teeth Presidential masturbation Talking 'bout what they gonna do for me Bullshits thick And it’s hit the fan I feel had when I see the man There ain't never been another man Walking 'round like me Don't stretch your imagination I'm every little thing you'll need From Jesus Christ To the Son of Sam There ain't never been another man
5.
I got dumped by another drummer A little bitty boy in a suit I’m surprised he made it thru the summer He acted so strange, he thought that it was cute to do He wore fancy shoes and girls blue jeans And you can hear him coming up the street Rumbling and a-tumbling, stumbling and a-mumbling Falling off his throne, putting powder on his little feet He sent me a message at three a.m. From the bottom of his vodka heart It said “I am done, it’s over, man I can’t keep it together, so I guess I’ll just fall apart” And I am going to miss him I’ve already cried These tears before me Tell the story Find the moral It’s there to find I got dumped by another lover A pretty big girl from Dubuque She spoke of love like a birthday card “Don’t hold on too long or it’s bound to break your little heart” She was six foot six and she wore me out Like a saddle too loose to ride She liked shucking corn to Lawrence Welk And I can’t put into words the way that makes me feel inside She left me a letter in my notebook Like a song I forgot to write With the best damn line I’ll never have written “So long, Honey, but I’m a fish that doesn’t bite” And I am going to miss her I've already cried These tears before me Tell the story Find the moral It's there to find I settled up with that little bitty drummer He went back to Pennsylvania today Standing in the rain, waiting for a train With a big black eye, from messing with a hurricane So I got drunk and then I thunk, thunk, thunk About that lover loving someone new And crossed the Mississippi, wishing it were whiskey So I could jump in, and swim about a week or two So friends I guess the message is You gotta talk before you start to run Because whether its a drummer or an 7-foot lover There's good to be found, hope inside of everyone And I am going to miss you I've already cried There tears of glory Pool before me Find the moral It's there to find
6.
I wish I could buy me a river I wish I could buy me a river I wish I could buy me a river A river that runs down to New Orleans I would float on a raft made of timber I would float on a raft made of timber I would float on a raft made of timber I would float myself down and never leave Say goodbye to all the women I’ll remember Say goodbye to Allison and Betty Lee Say goodbye to all the women I’ll remember And say hello to the ladies of the evening I would practice all morning on my strumming I would sing every song in a major key I would practice all morning on my strumming Singing you are my sunshine, New Orleans I would busk all day on the Bourbon I would busk all day on the Bourbon I would busk all day on the Bourbon And spend all my coin at Maple Leaf Oh, I wish I could buy me a river A river that runs down to New Orleans I would busk all day on the Bourbon And spend all my coin at Maple Leaf Singing you are my sunshine, New Orleans You are my sunshine, New Orleans
7.
I was singing sad songs Sad as the sky is blue Crying in the shower Sobbing on my shoes Looking for a rainbow Past the driving rain Come to me, no, run to me And like a dream she came But I can’t sing the blues As I fall in love with you Nothing is so easy or so cruel Because when you go away I’m counting down the days Until you’re back in my arms Where you belong So now I sing a love song Number 3,000,000,033 But none of them can hold a candle to The one of you and me Where the singer sings the secret And the girl don’t get away I heard it on your radio I listen everyday But I can’t sing the blues When I’m so in love with you Nothing is so easy or so true And when you go away I still count down the lonley days Until you’re back in my arms Where you belong Honey, you’re back in my arms Where you belong
8.
From the banks of that old river To the lightning in the sky From the snow-capped hills To the daffodils In the meadow of your eyes I've loved you there completely I've lived enough to know That friends are worth Their weight in gold And if I've never told you so Thank you for your loving Thank you for the truth It's good to know A guy like me Can have a friend like you Tomorrow you may curse me And I wouldn’t blame you none My head is hard My ways are odd But my heart is made of love So if there’s someone that you think on When you hear this song A wound that’s healed A home-cooked meal Don’t make them wait too long From the banks of this old river To the flower in your eye From a dear old friend Come back again To tell you one more time That I love you
9.
33 03:18
The house is crumbling all around me I don’t know what to do It walks and talks and stalks the night Like I do The railroad underground and slaves were Found here one day they say If we live here, I can’t stay here The walls will surely tumble down Cats cannot stay on my porch I just can’t take their love anymore This town is crazy, when we leave here We will surely be the same I was born here, left aware And came back just the other day The old neighborhood is just so good They know not what to make of me They switched to five digit addresses No more old thirty-three Cats should not eat from my hand I don’t know why they keep coming back We used to have a pool And a pet raccoon And a chimney for the chilly nights But the pool ran dry And the coon done died When the chimney came crashing down The news was all over town I don't know what we're gonna do now The front yard racetrack slowly grows back Quiet are Sunday mornings now We fixed the awkward social black hole I don’t know why or even how Everybody sings our praises Now they’re singing our songs too The house is crumbling all around me I don’t care, why should you Now we need a cat for our mouse Crawling through the walls of this house
10.
I think it was June, on the cusp of July And Sonia and I had just gotten high Upstairs from the store where they sell the cheese And the wine to the people so hard to please This is a 13-year with a mighty kick I said it tastes pretty good, how much for a brick …That's real Wisconsin cheddar, north woods dairy, from Brett Favre's udders… But we were just passing thru to the bar to play A couple a songs with the Finnegan's gang On a Thursday night with an open door And a microphone, maybe three drinks more I think Matt was playing, it was "Book of Love" When I saw the first of a dozen fuzz …Plainfield's finest, with their guns drawn, like they had found Stacy Peterson shacked up with Machine Gun Kelly… There were 7 squads, and a chopper, too The chief of police with a TV crew I ditched my stash by the ATM The clock hit midnight and them boys came in They said "Your liquor license just ran out So put down your whiskey, drop your stout …And put all those guitars and banjos where we can see 'em"… They shut down my favorite bar And towed away my car Blew down my chimney Tore out my heart And when you're singing your favorite song And something stops the sing-a-long Does it come back around Or just tear you apart Does it rip out your heart Well that was just the start The Manor was built the year Nietzsche was born So it's a little bit haggard, a little bit worn But it's a holy place for wayward souls Who grow up fast, but don't get old To write on walls and hoot n haller And supplement the furnace with an indoor fire Where were you when the chimney fell When the poets cried and the neighbors yelled "If we'd a-been out back, we'd be cut in half" It's a heart attack living next to people like that Friends, grab a brick, but tell your kids the truth If it hadn't been the chimney it a-been the roof …or a boot-stomping-love-having-whiskey-drinking-good-'ol time… You'll never see the ocean if you cling to the shore So I said my Hail Manors and I walked out the door Thank you, Friends, for the time we spent Let's figure out a way to do it all again There's a hole in the bucket, and a map to the well And everybody leaves with a story to tell …Last Call for Finnegan's and The Overmanor, 3 at 33, picking up bricks by the chimney, and love, love, love…
11.
I wrote all of my best traits down 
It took about twenty-five
 Seconds and a couple of half-written sentences
 About how I’m a pretty good guy
 At least I try
 At least I try

 So I sunk straight into a dismal daze
 And tried to parlay it to song 
The second verse didn’t match the first verse hurt
 The timbre of the bridge was all wrong
 It’s no sing a-long
 But I sing along

 

I wrote all of my best friends back
 You know I’m bad at keeping in-touch
 They all told me “Buddy, we love you like a brother
 But we all miss you so dang much” 
I miss them, too
 I miss them, too 

It's just that I cook all of my meat with fat
 When I write I like to chew on the grit
 I even make some money, so who’s getting hungry
 I’m taking what you’ll pay me for it
 I’d pay you, too 
I’d pay you to 

I cut my grass and I pay my tax I stumble but I walk the line 
Its hard to quantify the amount of time
 And bread it takes to make words rhyme
 I keep on trying Bless us for trying 

I wrote all of my best traits down 
It took about forty-five 
Seconds and a couple of half-written sentences
 About how I’m a pretty good guy
 At least I try
 At least I try 

I won't let my baby down
 I won't let my baby down
 I won't let my baby down 
I won't let my baby down

credits

released January 1, 2014

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Overman Plainfield, Illinois

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