We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Fire on the Vine

by Bryan John Appleby

/
  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    High quality 6 panel digipak with additional artwork. Design by Jordan Butcher.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Fire on the Vine via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 14 days

      $12 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 6 Bryan John Appleby releases available on Bandcamp.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Underwater Easy Breathing, Domino / The Face (demo versions), Domino / The Face, The Narrow Valley, Fire on the Vine, and Shoes for Men and Beasts. , and , .

    Purchasable with gift card

      $49 USD or more

     

  • Vinyl
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Only 5 left. 33 1/2 RPM. Design by Jordan Butcher.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Fire on the Vine via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

1.
Oh the gosling looked up to the goose and the gander Said, I don’t have a feather to fly I’m the unfortunate three of a kind When the flood finally came, it was Noah’s nameless wife That looked out from the window as the city sank And the rooftop children cried When her feet hit the ground, she could still hear the sound When her feet hit the ground, she could still hear the sound Ringing in her ears And it went …
2.
You fill my cup and I fill yours You fill my cup and I fill yours You sang over me, with a tambourine in your hand About the rider, the horse, and the land You sang over me, with a tambourine in your hand About the rider, the horse, and the land You play my notes and I play yours You play my notes and I play yours You sang over me, with a silver bell in your hand, About your dreams in the morning of a wide and ancient land You sang over me with a silver bell in your hand About your visions in the morning of a wide and ancient land I will be the watchman on your wall You will be the watchman on my wall I will be the watchman on your wall You will the watchman on my wall
3.
Backseat 04:16
You were hiding in the backseat of my Lincoln Underneath a blanket with your head against the door And I was already halfway through Ohio When I heard your soft voice singing to a song on the radio I crept out in the darkness of the morning Past our sleeping father, a cold cigar lying at his feet He was surrounded by his books down in the parlor Filled with all the words that he had wanted us to read and know But this is not an old American story About the rugged men who came out from the east And I am not some outlaw from the Badlands Or a gambler running tables in New Orleans So I put you on a bus back to Boston With some money in your shoe for a meal And I turn my car in the other direction Just hoping that I hear a note from the backseat
4.
Boys 07:05
Boys from the street, slum childs come in here together Boots wrapped in rope and wire And black hands in cold leather But I am not one of them. No, I am not one of them But they all know me by name. They all know me by name Men in the aisles, closed eyes and gold dust on their fingers They say soon God will come, so hold your tongue Don’t let your vices linger They say Elijah was carried off, caught up in a chariot made of flame So we too will ride in cars that shine If you name it, it’s yours to claim But I am not one of them. No, I am not one of them But they all know me by name. They all know me by name Girls from the corner, coming from the Corinthian Quarters That’s my place on Jackson The Preacher and the Politician, the Working Man They come looking to me, they come asking I know soon God will come and even if I run His horsemen bound to find me He’ll ask me why I’ve done the things I’ve done And I’ll tell Him you made the mouths I feed And I’ll say, I am not one of them I am not one of them But He’ll turn to me and say, Oh, I don’t know you by name! No, I don’t know you by name! And I’ll think to myself, You never did make known to me Your ways
5.
Sprout 04:19
She came in the night on the ninth of October They looked my in my red eyes and said she won’t last We all knew that she should’ve slept until mid-December When it comes to the lot I have learned, I can’t count on the cast That night a vision came At the same time both vivid and vague Of a father looking on As he burns to the ground the house that he made When I woke, I had been slain in the spirit of reason Baptized in the rolling dark waters of doubt ‘Cause I’m told it’s Your will to withhold, but it feels like treason A rain cloud refusing to pour in a season of drought That night a vision came At the same time both vivid and vague Of a father looking on As he burns to the ground the house that he made And I heard him say It was well on its way Just look how it swayed How it crumbled and caved As the crimson glow of the fire caught his eye I could tell he could hear, as well could I That along with the crackle and growl of the fire Came a call quite small from inside-- I’m in here alive But now, a child is born, she is bent but not broken A spark, a seed and a sprout A miracle or catastrophe This child who’s orphaned her family
6.
I have come into your house You say there’s something I should know by now and I vow to hear you out But as you speak, how I feel the sting Like the hackles on a dog’s back I rise up to meet The words you spoke in the middle of the night They fall heavy like a hammer on my mind You are the light in the darkness, you’re the fire on the vine Oh my son, I have known your ways But I’m the gale that’ll rattle your gate; you shudder, I make you shake You will find what you did not seek A road less narrow, a way not steep Oh my child Don’t you lose your place Remember my table Remember my face And the things I told you in the middle of the night They fall heavy like a hammer on your mind I am the light in the darkness, I’m the fire on the vine You turn away I’m left alone Then came a sign Then came the Revelation And I said, You, you will not dig a hole in me You will not chop down my tree Or hold me under the water No and you, you will not dig a hole in me You will not chop down my tree Or hold me under the water
7.
The Lake 04:03
You said, don’t come by, I do not feel like talking Not to you or anybody else You write their names with a trembling, ragged finger Upon the pane glass blinded by the frost And the cold pulls you down It pulls you down Pulls you down, down, down When I found you, your face it was not moving Your eyes are ravaged, you’re the land beneath a plague Wife and daughter caught weeping out on the water When the storm fell heavy on the lake And the waves pulled them down Pulled them down Pulled them down, down, down But my brother, don’t let your lantern darken Don’t be afraid for them For oh my friend, there is nothing on the other side We will grow old and plant for them a garden When the growing’s done we’ll plunge like a stone to join them in the tide
8.
Glory 03:52
Glory, I have known you my whole life In the morning, you come in gentle as a golden vine Through my window, you fill up the valleys in my sheets. Glory Glory, I have known you on a black crow night From my rooftop, shining in the alabaster moonlight And the rats all scratch in the attic under my feet. Glory Glory, you are the anvil for my hardened heart Glory, you’re the only mystery I can see I have known you as the song that goes before me And the only one who’ll be there when I’m gone
9.
I saw a white-haired child, staring out through hollow grey eyes I saw men that come to early ends, men who flicker, dim, and die I saw a kerosene skyline from the suburbs of the city on a hill I heard the clatter of the coin and the yawning of the few that have their fill And the sun, it is a blister, rising like the dead I drag my shadow behind me, and I drag my body to the edge of my bed With my palms pressed to my eyes, I pray this one last time If you’re someone else I might love you still, but as it is we’re done Oh and you, you will not dig a hole in me You will not chop down my tree Or hold me under the water No and you, you will not dig a hole in me You will not chop down my tree Or hold me under the water
10.
Honey Jars 04:08
I pick up a broken comb Run it through my thin grey hair Though I don’t have any plans tonight I’m not going anywhere Well, I should’ve seen this coming Don’t know why I’m surprised Every vessel on its way down Takes with it the captain’s life Though I’m blind, my dear, I see The parade goes on without me My body aches, my mind, it weeps For you, for you Tonight I’m locked outside my building Guess I must have lost the keys So I’ll sit here on the sidewalk Let the snow fall on my knees And if I made it to a payphone I don’t know who I would call So for now I close my eyes and rest My crooked back against the wall I read that old men will see visions Young men will follow dreams I believed it when I read it I see your face in everything Now your honey jars are frozen In the window your books have browned And there’s too much room inside our bed I think I’ll join you in the ground Though I’m blind, my dear, I see Let the chorus sing without me My body breaks, my mind it sleeps With you
11.
The Road 06:25
I hold my shoulder tight against the cold that rolls down the road tonight Though I’ve left the fold, my feet will find a hold Now I cannot stop I will not turn around on the road tonight Though I’ve left your side, Still I will find, find a way The holy garment threads apart, the cloth of white is stained The floor has bowed beneath the weight The beams now bend and break No longer can I call a home, the place I’ve known so well But what may come upon the road, right now I cannot tell

about

Produced by Alan Matley

credits

released July 29, 2011

Album features performances by Kevin Alan Matley, Cole Mauro, Joe Ruppert, Sam Anderson, Grace Yoo, Melodie Knight, Andrew Hanigan, Mychal Cohen, Kyle Zantos, The Messimer Brothers, Steven Nielsen.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Bryan John Appleby Seattle, Washington

Bryan Appleby is a singer-songwriter based on the West Coast

contact / help

Contact Bryan John Appleby

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Bryan John Appleby, you may also like: