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Monks Aflame

by Old Joy

/
1.
I’m just an old man writing a song Dredging up dreams a long time gone I’m just an old man with a pen in my hand I Got nothing to say but I’m making a stand. I’d show you what I’ve seen Maybe talk about places I’ve been Workin’ hard to remember the show If only memory was the first thing to go. Got some lost days and lost ways in the back of my mind Dusty letters in a trunk I keep meaning to find I’ll burn them all if they come back to me I think that’s what they call setting yourself free. I’d show you what I’ve seen Maybe talk about places I’ve been Workin’ hard to remember the show If only memory was the first thing to go (BR) If only memory was the first thing to go Then I wouldn’t know the things that I know I’ve known some loves and known some fears The last thing I’ll know is when my ride gets here Down at Dom Polski’s they’re cooking a rat And I always wondered why anyone would do that Fifty years later and I’ve still got no clue Why the hell it is we do what we do. I’d show you what I’ve seen Maybe talk about places I’ve been Workin’ hard to remember the show If only memory was the first thing to go. I’ve got to catch a train, my ride’ll be here soon The sun’s always highest right at noon And Leaving is easiest after you’re gone That final Night’s like a shadow dark and long. I’d show you what I’ve seen Maybe talk about places I’ve been Workin’ hard to remember the show If only memory was the first thing to go.
2.
On a warm summer night in ‘76, sweetened by country air. We sat on the porch 3 a.m. our senses dulled from drinking beer. The conversation hit a lag and we heard a distant siren wail. That lonesome sound when you surely know Somebody’s soul has just set sail. We drank a toast to their memory Though we didn’t know who it was. In those immortal years you just can’t think That time will turn you into dust. The next day we learned that a friend had turned the keys in on his life. And so it goes, those moments flow Until your time is right. (BR) I’m sitting here in my grey hair And I hear that siren cry I know that all those great years Are time that’s gone by I don’t worry about the past The future’s too short to cry. If I can hold this moment ‘till the next one I’ll be doing fine. I can see that porch but not the faces there The memory of that simple night Is like a lost breath of sweet and country air. Or a kiss from an old lover in the moonlight. All that’s gone between then and now A life that’s fading with the evening glow. Still through it all I hear that siren call As the summer passes into fall. Every day I know a secret And that is that I know nothing at all. Memories come and memories go Drifting like ghosts they come to call. They don’t mean that much and don’t last too long. They’re just like this song. But I know them like I knew those friends Younger then, wiser now and all of us moved on. When that siren finally plays for me I wonder who will hear. Maybe Some drunk kids on a summer porch just sitting drinking beer. Wonder if they’ll say poor soul just left today. Or if they’ll even know at all. That country air so sweet and fair Means summer’s passing into fall.
3.
Blow Away 04:07
Woke up this morning, combed my hair Then I realized I wasn't going anywhere So I come to the front porch and I sat in this chair Now it's me and that fence post locked in a stare I suppose it's lonely but that fly keeps buzzin' back Wonder what he hasn’t got that the thinks he don’t have A pack of fuzzy memories getting dimmer every day And a map of a circle leadin' right here every way Well I think about Marge we were married a long, long timeg But she's been gone a long, long time And the kids I lost track of some while back Think Sue is a stripper and John we lost to the crack Well Old Frank came by a week or a month ago And We sat here drinkin' beer until our chins were hanging low A couple words passed then he stumbled off These days when he goes he could be gone or lost. Well now nice folks bring smiles and them meals on wheels TV said the president wants to Kill Now Rich men always know what's good and well But he can kiss my ass and go to straight hell Well Korea wasn't my war of choice Just another time that I had no voice So I Fought and froze and then I came home Sixty years of livin' I'm back in a foxhole on my own. And I'm gettin kind of old and I'm getting kind of gray Well I Guess it's all right, no one remembers me anyway Gonna sit here on this porch till I turn to stone, talkin' to myself so I don't feel so all alone. Talkin’ to myself like I’m not alone Talkin’ to myself like I’m not alone Well there Ain't no shame in getting old so they say But they are all young and having their day When they're old and decrepit baby what about then? Well will they wish they could blow away with the wind?
4.
Test Pattern 04:04
You can cry for your youth but that skin’s been shed And you can take back all the words that you regret You can shout out your sins for heaven to hear But when you wake up from dreaming you’ll be standing here You can peer into the future with a crystal ball Forecast your great victories, be shocked by your fall You can chase fools gold with a crowd at your heels But you’ll be naked in your new suit before they make you kneel You can burn down the dreams of your family Rebuild your world from the ashes you sweep You lead yourself through those open doors But it’s your soul that matters when you settle your scores. BR And it’s late in the night When the stars aren’t your friends And you think maybe you have reached your end But it’s the fate of us all to wonder why We were put here to live just so we die. I went walking the other day in a foreign land Same city and country but only me and black men Not the place they said where both of us live Just a graveyard of dreams and history’s sins My sister she’s not my next of kin But I know her and love her ‘Cause she wears human skin She’s got power in her eyes and strength in her soul But in this whitewashed man’s world she just plays a role The fools in the throne room are beyond contempt And no mirror we can face says we’re exempt For misunderstanding the nature of fate Not likely we’ll wake up before it’s too late And it’s late in the night When the stars aren’t your friends And you think maybe you have reached your end But it’s the fate of us all to wonder why We were put here to live just so we die. So go ahead and cry for your youth’s end And take back all the words that you regret Shout out your sins for heaven to hear When you wake up from dreaming I’ll be waiting here.
5.
Cut another thread to the ties that bind The fabric of our life is frayed Darkness is the light to the blind And a heart in pain must feel its way All I wanted was to say good bye To wrap you in my arms one more time Was it Pain or pride, I can’t decide Who built the wall and turned the tide We don’t know the seeds we sow We don’t know each other’s souls We just know the hurt we know And how to cry if we can’t let it go A father’s pain is no mother’s gain And sons and daughters don’t cry as one Tears all fall down just the same When we want love and there is none Wind is rattling through my window broken Blowing to a silent destiny All the words that we have spoken That didn’t save us or me Dreams die easy when we fail to speak Love to those we hold close It’s a cold wind stings the other cheek If hearts don’t share what they know We don’t know the seeds we sow We don’t know each other’s souls We just know the hurt we know And we cry if we can’t let it go And we cry if we can’t let it go Can we let it go?

about

This is a literal Dad Rock record that my dad and I collaborated on over the insane summer of 2020. It started out as a fathers day present, since my dad has been writing songs for years but has never seen the inside of a studio. He wrote all the lyrics, and I helped him bring his songs to life by writing music to them and playing the instruments behind his voice. Half of all proceeds from the sale of this album will go to My Block, My Hood, My City and Never Alone Recovery Network. Thanks for listening.

credits

released December 16, 2020

Monks Aflame:
James Reindl - Vocals
Alex Reindl - Bass, Electric & Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Vocals, aux Percussion
Douglas Nunes - French Horn
Max Petot - Drums
Maureen Neer - Whistle
Doug Malone - Shaker

All songs written by James Reindl & Alex Reindl
Engineered & Mixed by Doug Malone, Jamdek Studios, Chicago IL 2020
Mastered by Carl Saff, Saff Mastering

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Old Joy Austin, Texas

Scum Pop/Power Trash from Chicago IL
Now located in Austin TX
Booking/press: onesockman@gmail.com
IG: @oldjoychicago

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