The Penny Collector Lyrics and Credits
Album Credits
- Carrie Elkin - Vocals & Guitar
- Neilson Hubbard - Drums, percussion, Vocals
- Kris Donegan - Electric & Acoustic guitar, Bass
- Will Kimbrough - Electric guitar & Mandolin
- Telisha Williams - Upright bass, vocals
- David Henry - Cello & Viola
- Eamon McLoughlin - Violin
- Robby Hecht - vocals
- Danny Schmidt - vocals
- Ryan Culwell - vocals
- Produced by: Neilson Hubbard
- Recorded at: Mr. Lemon’s studio, Nashville, TN
- Engineered & Mixed by: Neilson Hubbard
- Mastered by: Jim DeMain at Yes Master Studios, Nashville
- All photos by: Rodney Bursiel
Run Times:
- New Mexico - 4:37
- Always on the Run - 5:23
- Albatross - 3:53
- And Then the Birds Came - 4:11
- Crying Out - 4:51
- Live Wire - 3:31
- Tilt-a-Whirl - 4:42
- My Brother Said - 3:25
- Niagara - 5:08
- American Tune - 5:08
- Lamp of the Body - 2:09
New Mexico
Lyrics by Carrie Elkin
Oh the light
Full moon upon us
The ancient world
The coyotes cry
The dogs are running now
My heart is racing now
My body’s pacing now
But we’re all in stride
I can feel the drums inside
I can hear the buffalo
I can feel the uprise
I can hear the Spanish cries
On the Pueblo
This is my New Mexico
This is where my battle cries
This is where my father died
This is how the falcon flies
This is where my poet lives
This is where my feathers rise
This is where the wreckage lies
This is where I first came alive
On the Pueblo
And I can hear the heart beat
In everything around me
And I can hear the heart beat
In everything around me
Now the time has come
both our worlds have spun
I’ll take some sage from yours
and leave you light from mine
I’ll lay the head dress down
I’ll pray to St. Jerome
That my wings won’t fail me now
When I fly back home
From the Pueblo
Always on the Run
Lyrics by Carrie Elkin
What is he afraid of said the moon to the sun
For we both rise and fall
It’s a breath each day and its his for the taking
So here’s a red ribbon lest he forgets
That home is a waiting the porch light is on
His wife is in bed and it’s late
And he’ll lay beside her but he won’t touch her
He thinks she’s sleeping
But she lies there awake
Thinking home is where the heart is
But he’s aways on the run
He’s always on the run
And she gets to thinking
About the kids she been teaching
About the Raramuri Indians
And how they’re always on the run
The reservation down there
Is rough and it’s dirty
The trees have been cleared
And the cattle are dead
And the land is tired
And the young kids are drinking
And the drug lords have moved in
And the elders are thinking
It’s been four hundred years
And we’re always on the run
We’re always on the run
We’re just trying to live
We ain’t hurting no one
Said we ain’t hurting no one
She wakes early as the clouds burn away
She’s crawls out of bed without seeing his face
She don’t know he been crying
She don’t feel that he shakes
Cause his mind has been racing with what’s coming today
The children are waiting
And the songs never done
And there’s no time for loving
It’s just run run run
Show herself to the world
Show the world that she can
Show the world that she’s grounded, the birds eat from her hands
And the moon starts to fall
And the sun starts to rise
And they meet in the middle for that breath in the sky
And he opens his eyes says the work is never done
And he calls for his wife but she’s always on the run
The reservation down there
Is rough and it’s dirty
The trees have been cleared
And the cattle are dead
And the land is tired
And the young kids are drinking
And the drug lords have moved in
And the elders are thinking
It’s been four hundred years
And we’re always on the run
We’re always on the run
We’re just trying to live
We ain’t hurting no one
Said we ain’t hurting no one
Albatross
Lyrics by Carrie Elkin
Oh cicada gonna make make me scream
It’s like a hurricane pissing on a summer’s breeze
Been raining so hard I can barely breathe
Blame it god
and the stormy sea
Albatross gonna make me sing
With my mother’s voice and my father’s wings
I’ll carry the burden of a thousand things
Blame it god
and the unforeseen
Oh dear devil gonna make me lie
In a field of grass with a fire so high
Where you can’t forgive what you can’t survive
Blame it on god
Blame it on god
Blame it on god
BRIDGE:
And oh my child
come and rest your weary head
you must know the time will come
when it all comes round again
it’s hard to tell
when it’s all just been too much
We’re resilient though i guess
time will do the rest
Sleep oh sleep gonna make me dream
When you catch a little something in the in-between
Where the moon and the sun dance endlessly
Blame it on god
and the days first ring
Albatross gonna make me sing
With my mother’s voice and my father’s wings
I’ll carry the burden of a thousand things
Blame it on god
Blame it on god
Blame it on god
And Then The Birds Came
Lyrics by Carrie Elkin
It was just a month ago
When my body failed me
My body failed me
Then I received a phone call
From my daddy
His body failed
Him
Too
What are we to do?
It was like the sky fell
All around us
All around us
And a billion stars
They lost their brightness
We lost our brightness
It was so dark
It was so
Dark
It was like the candle
It burned from both ends
I tried to stop it
Then
It lit my chest up
I poured my heart out
I felt so much love
And then the birds came
They took my dad away
It was so quiet
Then
The world just came alive
My mama came alive
My brother came alive
That’s how my daddy lived
The birds they wanted him
They knew he’d help them fly
Crying Out
yrics by Carrie Elkin
When then lights are off,
I need a man to touch
I need my back to bend
I need a heavy hand
I need a book to write
I need a gentle fight
I need a day gone by
I need the dog to bite
CHORUS:
But I’m lonely now
I know it’s hard for you
I know you know what to do
But I know it’s hard for you
When the lights are off
I hear a ringing bell
I hear a sweet farewell
I hear the poet fail
I hear the birds of night
I hear the unwon fight
I hear my mind gone wild
I hear an unborn child
CHORUS
When the lights are off
I’m in a strangers dress
I’m in a beating chest
I’m in an empty nest
I’m in the bluest note
i’m on (in) a boat alone (the bed alone)
I’m a girl that’s been thrown
and I’m on the telephone
and I’m crying out
oh I’m crying out
oh I’m crying out
I’m crying out
I’m lonely now
I know it’s hard for you
I know you know what to do
But I know it’s hard for you
Live Wire
Lyrics by Carrie Elkin
She’s daddy’s little girl
She’s daddy’s little girl
She’s daddy’s little girl
She’s a real live wire
A real live wire
A real live wire
She’s daddy’s little girl
She’s a real live wire
CHORUS
It’s a wicked world
With wicked games
But living scared
Ain’t living anyway
It’s the way of the world
With all its thrills
A life half empty
Is a Life half spilled
She grew up brave
She grew up fast
She grew up loud
She never looked back
She never looked back
She joined the carnival
Til the wild got weird
And she ran back home
CHORUS
She climbed through windows
She sailed through school
She swung both ways
Just to break both rules
She’d break the rules
If the rules weren’t true
With her daddy’s forgiveness
In her own rear view
CHORUS
She’s daddy’s little girl
She’s daddy’s little girl
She’s daddy’s little girl
She’s a real live wire
Tilt-A-Whirl
Lyrics by Carrie Elkin
I remember the rodeo
I remember the tilt a whirl
I remember the carnie girl
And I remember her dare
She said step up and get it
Five chances to win it
I threw the balls in the bucket
And I turned away
So full of fear now
Come to me dear now
Cover up your ears now
And I’ll play you a song
I remember the beer flowed
I remember the bar stools bowed
I remember the stage smelled
of sweat and rage
I remember his voice some
It’s like a ghost in the back of the yard
It’s like a ghost screaming up to the sky
As the birds they preyed
CHORUS:
We were young then
We were brave then
There were no rings then
There were just songs
And though we cried some
We would still fly some
We would still fall some
But we weren’t afraid
I remember the snow fell
I remember the clear sky
I remember his brown eyes
And I remember his grace
It would be the last time
Or maybe the first time
That i knew i loved him
But I couldn’t stay
So full of fear now
Come to me dear now
Cover up your ears now
And I’ll play you a song
CHORUS
My Brother Said
Lyrics by Carrie Elkin
My brother said
she’s the one
my brother said she’s the one
What’s a girl to do
with all those scars
what’s a girl to do with a hatin’ heart
What’s a girl to do
cause so much pain
what’s a girl to do when she shares our name
My brother said
she’s the one
my brother said she’s the one
What’s a girl to do
when she hates her ma
what’s a girl to do when her pa is dead
What’s a girl to do
got two grown kids
what’s a girl to do with a life like his
What’s a girl to do
he controls her so
what’s a girl to do when she can’t grow old
What’s a girl to do
find another man
what’s a girl to do run as fast she can
My brother said
she’s the one
my brother said she’s the one
What’s a girl to do
when she out of love
what’s a girl to do well she just give up
What’s a girl to do
done made a mess
whats a girl to do she’s gone i guess
What’s a girl to do
when she walks alone
whats a girl to do aint got no home
what’s a girl to do ain’t got no home
My brother said
she’s the one
my brother said she’s the one
my brother said
she’s the one
my brother said she’s the one
my brother said she’s the one
Niagara
Lyrics by Carrie Elkin
Back when she was a girl
She’d visit Niagara, it was the top of the world
And she’d dream of diving straight over the falls
When she was a girl
And oh, the mountains they called
When she saw the sage, she thought she’d figured it all
So she gave up the bible for crystals and stars
The mountains they called
CHORUS:
Oh oh oh . . . it’s like the wind just blew in
Slapped the years on her skin
It all happened so fast
She wants to go there with grace
It’s hard to go there with grace
Then she built a nest
On 300 acres, from twigs and unrest
So deep in the forest that time might forget
She built a nest
CHORUS
BRIDGE:
The Grace, of a little girl
The Grace, in an open world
Grace, of a path that’s been paved
Grace of an altered plan
Grace with her own two hands
Grace, as if moments were saved
CHORUS
Oh, she settled down
As though the wind let the feather fall safe to the ground
When finally the needle found the hem of the gown
And she settled down
Back home
Oh, back home
Oh, back home
Lamp of the Body
Lyrics inspired by the book of Matthew
The eye is the Lamp of the Body
When your eyes healthy
Your whole body
Will be full of light
Will be full of light
When the thread touched the needles head
I knew I’d have clothes to wear
I saw the light touch the light
It touched the light
