Get all 26 The Successful Failures releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Wrong Together (2023), Sally MacLannane, If I Should Fall From Grace With God (single), Millions of People (single), If I Ever (3-song EP), Uncle Jimmy (single), James Cotton Mather (2021), Hand Grenades (single), and 18 more.
1. |
Ballad of Julio Cuellar
03:55
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Sitting in a room in a plastic chair
Smoke from my cigarette looms
They’re feeding us warm tortillas and soon
They’ll be bringing us back to our rooms
I’m a middle aged man with a full time job
And a granddaughter soon to arrive
With the money I make I will never provide
I don’t take enough to get by
We left in the morning before the sun rise
Three days of darkness and then we arrived
On the American side
My Coyote left me to die
I paid my Coyote a handsome sum
He promised to get me inside
I quit my job laid it all on the line
Now I’m lucky to be half alive
Chorus
No my own home I don’t even own
And those in the barrio know
I feel ashamed to be seen sick and lame
So I never set foot out these doors
Chorus
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2. |
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Part II
My heart fell into the grinder
Lost my little girl I can’t find her
Down the well into the hollow
Down to the world where I can’t follow
Death will tie you to his saddle
Into the cage or into the battle
Now every run must be recorded
Mapped measured written and recorded
And everyone must be calibrated
Trapped treasured inoculated
I hear the bones of my ghost rattle
Into the cage or into the battle
The temperature is rising
The road is steep the road is winding
All I know is I know no better
All dressed up like a kid in cold weather
I can’t clear myself from the clatter
Into the cage or into the battle
My highs are well grounded
Can’t seem to fight my way around it
The lights have started flashing
My nights are everlasting
Seems like the crux of the matter
Into the cage or into the battle
Part III
All I know is I need you for a lifetime
Into the battle
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3. |
Misguiding Light
04:25
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Misguiding light where will you take me tonight?
I’m on my way and the time is right
For me to fall into that hole again
When I’m at home fixing a plate
Writing a letter baking a cake
Find me some thinner ice to skate upon
I know you’ll find me
You’re like my brother Joe
The only brother I know
Lost track of Joe so many years ago
but I know Joe will be there for me
When I’m alone crossing the street
Making decisions that might lead
To indiscretion, duress, and disease
I know you’ll find me
Misguiding light where will you take me tonight
I’m on my way and the time is right
For me to fall into that hole again
When I’m at home fixing a plate
Writing a letter baking a cake
Find me some thinner ice to skate upon
Taking a test, turning a page
Trying to navigate this cage
Send me a daydream I can dream upon
Meeting the folks in a DC lounge
Trying to hold my liquor down
Misguiding light I know you have me now
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4. |
Sam Houston
03:34
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The very first rays of dawn
Were beginning to leak
Across the White House lawn
Where the president speaks
We stayed up all night long
He’s calling all his friends
To lay their differences down
Come forward just like men
And listen to the sound
Of a broken heart
The sound of a broken heart
You can see him in his coonskin cap
And his alligator shoes
A Southern Democrat
But he followed his own rules
Because he wanted to live like that
Texas is the only land
He could ever call his own
He took a rebel stand
But he had to stand alone
He did his part, to the sound of a broken heart
Ooh Ooh Ooh love
Ooh Ooh Ooh love
I’ve been sitting on my hands
And drinking from the still
Time I took a little chance
On my Jacinto Hill
I’ll do my part
To the sound of a broken heart
Chrous
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5. |
Dear Ol Dad
04:51
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Dear Ol Dad
I want to live my life
In a western town
I want to drive all night
In a paper crown
When the wind picks up
And blows the whole thing down
I can only hear your voice when you talk loud
Dear Ol Dad
He’s got the grown up blues
Dear Ol Dad
He gave his dreams to you
I want to live my life
In a western town
I want to fly all night
Through a paper cloud
When the sun comes up
And burns the whole thing down
I can only hear your voice when you talk loud
Dear Ol Dad
He’s got the grown up blues
Dear Ol Dad
In his stick-pin suit
Dear Ol Dad
Can you fill those shoes
Dear Ol Dad
Always there for you
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6. |
Ichor of Nettle
03:52
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I’m on my way
I’m on my way out
I’m on my way
I’m on my way now
On natty wings, we learn to get by
On natty wings, we take to the sky
The stars are in our eyes
And the days go by
Discount the ways
Discount our ways of knowing (finding)
Discount the ways
Our confidence(s) is growing (binding)
Chorus
On glossy wires artistically bent
He draws himself up to his full extent
On natty wings his self assurance perks
His stinging quarters menacingly work
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7. |
Tennessee Boy
02:47
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Look at that Tennessee Boy
Look at that Galway Girl
Dancing together in the middle of it all
Might as well tell the sun
Not to shine around here
Tell the moon just to go and disappear
Might as well tell the flames
In the fire not to rise
Tell the stars not to come out tonight
Might as well tell the weeds
In the sidewalk not to grow
Tell the kids something they don’t already know
Tell the planets not to spin
The wind to die down
Tell the rabbits just to stay in the ground
Tell the wagon not to roll
To be completely still
To sit right there in the middle of the hill
If I had a little money down
This is exactly what I’d do
I’d buy me a guitar and I’d play a little song for you
And we’d listen to the banjo howl
And the coyote sing
Moving up and down like a bow on a fiddle string
So look at that Tennessee Boy
Look at that Galway Girl
Dancing together in the middle of it all
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8. |
All Rise
03:54
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All rise, your honor is here
Everybody outside, everybody in here
All rise, like the sun in the sky
Like a kite on the beach
Like the moon and the tide
Stand up for yourself in the night
Stand up for yourself
Sometimes, with the hook and the jab
You can do what you want, You can fight where you stand
Sometimes, you can’t even explain
What it is that you came for, what it is that you came for
Stand up for yourself in the night
Stand up for yourself
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9. |
PA Fight Song
03:50
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Pennsylvania you’re the only thing between us
The only thing that’s standing in my way
Pennsylvania you’re the only thing between us
I’ll get through you some day
There was a time when you meant something
But that was so long ago
There was a time when you meant something
I loved your mountains wide and low
Oh Pennsylvania, it’s time I let you go
Pennsylvania you’re the only thing between us
My kinfolk live up on the other side
Pennsylvania you’re the only thing between us
And that’s one hell of ride
I won’t be crossing you the long way
Ohio don’t mean nothing to me at all
I won’t be crossing you the long way
Or stopping in your coal mining towns
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10. |
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I filled my canteen at the water fill station
THough I never believed in water filtration
I jumped in the pool ‘cause I thought I could swim
I followed the rules and avoided the sin
When did everybody grow up?
Was it while I was sleeping?
When did everybody grow up?
Was it while I was dreaming?
And so I’m in love I can’t deny it
It’s only because I never tried it
I drove on the highway the lanes were all closed
I waited till Friday and then I proposed
When did everybody grow up?
Was it while I was sleeping?
When did everybody grow up?
Was it while I was dreaming?
When did everybody grow up?
Was it while I was receding?
When did everybody grow up?
Was it while I was underachieving?
When did everybody grow up?
Was it while I was digressing?
When did everybody grow up?
Was it while I was second guessing?
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11. |
All Wrapped Up
03:07
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All wrapped up in your headphone wires
All wrapped up in your crossword games
All wrapped up in your headphone wires
All wrapped up and I feel no pain
I’m leaving on a train
Think of all the miles we traveled
I’m leaving on a train
I hope that we don’t come unraveled
All wrapped up in your headphone wires
All wrapped up and it seems so strange
All wrapped up in your headphone wires
Emotional cellophane
I’m leaving on a plane
I hope it’s not too late to find me
I’m leaving on a plane
Your headphone wires here to bind me
All wrapped up like a dime-store mummy
All wrapped up like a bee in his honey
All wrapped up in you it’s not funny
Everything you do everything you do
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12. |
Baby Home Tonight
04:29
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Gears will grind, cogs will turn
Chimney smokes, the furnace burns
Now the moon is shining bright
I’m taking baby home tonight
The bossman speaks, the whistle blows
This place is deep in thought control
I can’t stick around and fight
I’m taking baby home tonight
This river bed is no place to sleep
It’s kind of muddy, it’s kind of cheap
And no one’s leaving on the light
I’m taking baby home tonight
The clocks will crow at the break of dawn
Rise and shine, the game is on
Now the road begins to wind
I’m taking baby home tonight
The hammer falls, the trap is tripped
We got caught up and the label sticks
It only happened once or twice
I’m taking baby home tonight
Every street turns me back
Every heartbeat a heart attack
I’m not falling on that knife
I’m taking baby home tonight
Nothing gained, nothing learned
No deposit, no return
I don’t see an end in sight
I’m taking baby home tonight
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13. |
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The shit that weighs you down
The shit that weighs you down
The shit that makes you frown
Turns your smile around
The shit that weighs you down
The shit that weighs you down
The shit that pulls you down
Pins you to the ground
You want to fly
You got to try
To give up the shit
That weighs you down
The shit that weighs you down
The shit that weighs you down
The shit that breaks
Tears your heart out
The shit that weighs you down
The shit that weighs you down
The shit that’s all around
Oh it’s all over town
Throw it out the window
Stick it in a can
Throw it in the incinerator
Bury it in the sand
Throw it in the river
Let it sink
Bury it in the ground
That makes you (echo)
That takes you (echo)
That breaks you (echo) …. down
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14. |
No Good Way
03:12
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We drove from Boston, Massachusetts
Through Connecticut to be
With the family in New Jersey
For the holiday then we
Drove north to New York City
Across the G-W-B
There’s no good way to get there
North through Pennsylvania
On the highway with the trees
The rain came down in buckets
All the way to Saugerties
I love you Pennsylvania
But New York’s where I should be
There’s no good way to get there
West through Pennsylvania
South to Tennessee
To go swinging from the branches
Of our soiled family tree
Behold the Smoky Mountains
As far as I can see
There’s no good way to get there
South through Philadelphia
And to Baltimore okay
The moon was sittin’ pretty
On the Chesapeake Bay
But back to Ol’ Virginny
That’s where I want to stay
There’s no good way to get there
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15. |
Low Resting Heartbeat
03:29
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So I have a low resting heartbeat
No that doesn't mean I’ll go
And steal your money Joe
Please believe me
Only love, can set me high or low
Only love, can say which way I’ll go
I have a low, resting heartbeat
The dream, I always dream will never hurt me
It seems I’ll always be
Way out of your league
Heaven help me
Chorus
No, I’ll never hold a job down really
So, that it is a road down which I know
I won’t be stearing
Chorus
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16. |
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The devil took a liking to me
The devil took a liking to me
He was waiting at the station
Leaning on a limousine
The devil took a liking to me
The devil took a liking to me
He was waiting by the river
leaning on a submarine
And we fell, into the sea
The devil held, onto me
Oh yeah, Oh yeah
I was the cop who took the money not to see
I put the drop of poison in the cup of tea
I was off and running, the devil saw me coming
Laid out a carpet for me
The devil took a liking to me
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17. |
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18. |
The Successful Failures Trenton, New Jersey
"The first thing you should know about The Successful Failures is that any attempt to plug them into one genre or another is very much a fool’s errand. Hailing from Trenton, N.J., the band deftly combines Americana, Pop, Rock, and enough of a dusting of Bluegrass that serves as an appetizer to the main course without overwhelming the entire meal." - July 2020, Rock is the New Roll ... more
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