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Man From Out Of Town

from Milltowns by Mark Erelli

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Mark Erelli - vocal, acoustic guitar, mandolin, shruti box, bass, percussion
Charlie Rose - banjo, pedal steel

lyrics

The house burned down on a rainy night
and they never did find out why
I just stood alone beneath the silver maple
trying to keep my cigarettes dry
Waiting for the firemen
I couldn't save a thing
And deep inside my home,
above the roar of the flame
I swore I heard the telephone ring

The rain let up and we worked till dawn
just me and the firemen
And when they cut the power and the lines went dead
I never got called again
The house was gone by the break of dawn,
the air was cold and grey
I just set off down the road alone
but it's always gone that way

So young, so long ago
I thought I heard that train
Calling out my name
at least it sounded like my name
Just a boy with no direction
I left my home behind
And the sky changed color
once I crossed that town line

My good friends did the best they could
to hold me down with them
But I took one look and I packed my bags
and I slipped around the bend
The lessons came from left and right
the first night out I found
The laws were not meant to protect
the man from out of town

There was a cold street on the sea coast
I once tried to call home
Where the church steeples rose up
above the town like broken bones
Drinking whiskey with the Catholic priest
one night in the rectory hall
He just shook his head and said,
"You never know when Jesus call."
Then his eyes got wide and he looked
around but he just could not explain
It was like he heard the sound of Jesus' laugh
the way I heard that train

Now the years and the faces blur
Still I can remember some
There were women washing windows
There were salesgirls chewing gum
There were curses in the shapes of old men
kneeling in the pews
There are things in this life
a man just does not get to choose

So, finally I found a home
in a tiny mountain town
Just a simple place to keep me dry
when the rain came pouring down
A place to sleep, the rent was cheap
brick walls and a new slate roof
The landlord said, "You'll be safe here,
this house is fireproof."

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Mark Erelli - vocal, acoustic guitar, mandolin, shruti box, bass, percussion
Charlie Rose - banjo, pedal steel

credits

from Milltowns, released September 9, 2014
written by Bill Morrissey (Dry Fly Music/BMI, administered Bug Music)

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all rights reserved

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Mark Erelli Boston, Massachusetts

"You know those artists who release a great first record and then have enormous trouble following it up with anything as interesting? Yeah, that’s not Mark Erelli." -Red Line Roots

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