Track Listing & Lyrics

Pack Up The Circus (Cavanaugh)

From Pack Up The Circus (2015)
Produced by Anais Mitchell and Session Americana
Recorded at Q Division Studios, Cambridge, MA
Engineered by Matt Beaudoin

Ry Cavanaugh: lead vocal
Laura Cortese: vocals, violin
Jefferson Hamer: electric guitar
Kimon Kirk: acoustic guitar
Dinty Child: accordion, field organ
Alec Spiegelman-flutes
Jim Fitting: harmonica
Jon Bistline: bass
Billy Beard: drums

He puts his hat on the table and picks up his guitar
The music of the night has slowed to a crawl
In a concrete room, he sings through the bars
Far from the lights or the stage or the stars
Pack up the circus
Hang up the reigns
Turn out the lights
It's time for a change
Everyone knows that the moon only glows,
And the real show starts when the lions are back in their cage.
Are we all in motion at the edge of the wheel
Or are we holding on for life and spinning on our heels
And if someone leaps from a dizzying height
Would it be less lonely in the glow of the night
Pack up the circus
Hang up the reigns
Turn out the lights
It's time for a change
Everyone knows that the moon only glows,
And the real show starts when the lions are back in their cage.
Theres a place where the misfits fit right in
From far and wide they come when the sun it sets and the show begins
Pack up the circus
Hang up the reigns
Turn out the lights
It's time for a change
Everybody knows that the moon only glows, but the sun is on fire
and the real show starts when the lions are back in their cage.

Making Hay (Fitting)

From Live at the Haybarn Theatre (2018)
Written by Jim Fitting
Recorded at Haybarn Theatre, Goddard College, Plainfield, VT
Engineered by Bennet Shapiro

Jim Fitting: lead vocal, harmonica
Ry Cavanaugh: acoustic guitar
Jefferson Hamer: electric guitar
Dinty Child: field organ
Kimon Kirk: bass
Billy Beard: drums

I've got the rattle and the clatter, and clatter and the rattle
Fill up your barn, fatten up your cattle
Leaving nothing but dust and an inch to two of stubble
Bringin' cash money and a whole lot of trouble
I'm making hay, I'm making hay
Well your pony's gettin' old and you tractor took a tumble
I'm rolling down your road with a racket and a rumble
Forget that forlorn look like a fence that needs mending
Give me a big smile baby your hard times are ending
I'm making hay, l'm making hay
When the wind is high and the grass is green
Your gonna hear it for miles, my cutting machine
And when the bales get stacked and the nights get long
The rhythm and the rumble play a brand new song
The whistle blows just like a rooster crows
But there ain't no chicken and there ain't no cluck
Just me bucking bales and busting luck
And you've got to get up early in the morning...
It may be sweet clover or salt marsh hay
l'lI be cutting and bailing at the break of day
Got a straw walker, silo talker, stump-jump plow
You may not love me later but your gonna love me now
I'm making hay, I'm making hay

Beertown (Child, Clapham)

From Table Top People Vol 3: Beer Town (2007)
Produced by Billy Conway
Recorded at Hi-N-Dry, Cambridge, MA
Engineered by Matt Malikowski

Dinty Child: lead vocal, mandocello, piano, field organ
Sean Staples: mandolin
Ry Cavanaugh: baritone guitar
Jim Fitting: harmonica
Kimon Kirk: bass
Billy Beard: drums

Out on the ocean going through the motions
Pulling on a rope in the big deep sea
Sailing with the pirates causing a commotion
Thinking of the place that I’d rather be
Beertown
Gonna jump in the big brown river
Beertown
Gonna call that river my home
Beertown
Gonna drink til it hurts my liver
Beertown
Gonna sleep in a puddle of foam
Out on a big ship going on a long trip
Late night waiting for the watch to pass
Wishing that the stars were bottles in the bars
And the moon was the bottom of an empty glass
Beertown
Gonna jump in the big brown river
Beertown
Gonna call that river my home
Beertown
Gonna drink til it hurts my liver
Beertown
Gonna sleep in a puddle of foam
I dream of the girls in a harbor town
I pray for the bottles of the beer gone down
Wash my body in golden ale
Pray for the wind and homeward gale
Beertown
Gonna jump in the big brown river
Beertown
Gonna call that river my home
Beertown
Gonna drink til it hurts my liver
Beertown
Gonna sleep in a puddle of foam
Well I pray for the miner that digs the metal
That makes the kegs and the caps for the bottles
That are taken to the place where the bring the ingredients
Grown in the mountains of beautiful Bavaria
And brewed in the kettles til they reach perfection
Then taken by the wonderful, magnificent distributor
And loaded on a truck by a guy with a forklift
Then driven to the taverns and the clubs and the bars
Where the taps are pulled by the sacred bartenders
Living on tips while the waitress carries that glistening, golden glass through the crowd
And thinking about her final exams she lowers it gently dripping down
In diaphanous light to the table in front of me
And I like having a thumb that’s opposable
I like having a mouth and ears
I like the pirates who are sailing on the ocean
And I like the people who bring me beer
Beertown
Gonna jump in the big brown river
Beertown
Gonna call that river my home
Beertown
Gonna drink til it hurts my liver
Beertown
Gonna sleep in a puddle of foam

Helena (Hamer)

From Great Shakes (2016)
Produced by Jefferson Hamer, Session Americana
Recorded at Kimon’s house, W. Roxbury, MA + Armory Sound, Somerville, MA
Engineered by Jefferson Hamer, Ry Cavanugh, Alex Hug

Jefferson Hamer: Lead vocal, electric guitar
Ry Cavanaugh: acoustic guitar, vocals
Kimon Kirk: bass guitar, vocals
Jim Fitting: harmonica
Dinty Child: field organ, vocals
Billy Beard: drums, vocals

Oh Helena where are you in the world tonight?
If you’re out there, somewhere, step into the light
And I wish that you would call ‘cause I feel nothing at all
And I’m sure that you’re the only one who understands
Oh Helena where are you in the world tonight?
Send a picture, send a letter, I’ve got to know that you’re alright
Because it’s been more than a while and I can’t forget your smile
And I’m sure that I have never been so alone
Oh Helena, if you’re out there, I won’t make that same mistake again
You know I had to learn the hard way but now I’m a changed man
And my skin is wearing thin like a tin man with no heart within
I’ve got to find you before something goes really wrong

All For You (Cavanaugh, Strause)

From Pack Up The Circus (2015)
Produced by Anais Mitchell and Session Americana
Recorded at Q Division Studios, Cambridge, MA
Engineered by Matt Beaudoin

Ry Cavanaugh: lead vocal
Anais Mitchell: vocals
Dietrich Strause: finger picked guitar, trumpet
Jefferson Hamer: acoustic guitar
Charlie Rose: pedal steel
Laura Cortese: violin
Dinty Child: piano
Jon Bistline: electric bass
Zachariah Hickman: double bass

There's salt on the meadow, a rise on the coast
Down at the harbor, they've hauled all the boats
The boys at the firehouse are sliding on their coats
We can hear her coming, she’s just clearing her throat
All for you, all for you
The radio man, the evening news
The suffolk streets are battered and bruised
All for you, all for you
Shuddering windows in a veil that passes
The water and whisky a booklet of matches
The power went out as i felt your embrace
We swept through the dark rooms with the passion and grace
All for you, all for you
The radio man is coming unglued
Streets of brooklyn are battered and bruised
All for you, all for you
The anticipation led us up to the mark
The realization broke our hearts
All for you, all for you
The radio man has come unglued
Streets of boston are battered and bruised
All for you, all for you

Trip Around The Sun (Bruton, Anderson, Vaughn)

From Northeast (2019)
Produced by Kris Delmhorst, Ry Cavanaugh
Recorded at Q Division Studios, Cambridge, MA
Engineered by Matt Beaudoin

Merrie Amsterburg: lead vocal, acoustic guitar
Peter Linton: electric guitar
Ry Cavanaugh: field organ
Duke Levine: mandola
Isa Burke: violin
Jon Bistline: bass
Billy Beard: drums

Here I'm singin' happy birthday
Better think about the the wish I make
This year gone by ain't been a piece of cake
Everyday's a revolution, pull it together and it comes undone
Just one more candle and a trip around the sun
I'm just hangin' on while this old world keeps spinnin'
And it's good to know it's out of my control
If there's one thing that I've learned from all this livin'
Is that it wouldn't change a thing if I let go
No, you never see it comin'
Always wind up wonderin' where it went
Only time will tell if it was time well spent
It's another revelation
Celebrating what I should have done
With these souvenirs of my trip around the sun
I'm just hangin' on while this old world keeps spinnin'
And it's good to know it's out of my control
If there's one thing that I've learned from all this livin'
Is that it wouldn't change a thing if I let go
Yes, I'll make a resolution
That I'll never make another one
Just enjoy this ride on my trip around the sun
Just enjoy this ride - till it's done

You Always Hurt The One You Love (Roberts, Fisher)

From Pack Up The Circus (2015)
Produced by Anais Mitchell and Session Americana
Recorded at Q Division Studios, Cambridge, MA
Engineered by Matt Beaudoin

Kimon Kirk: lead vocal
Jim Fitting: 2nd lead vocal, harmonica
Duke Levine: acoustic guitar
Dinty Child: field organ
Dietrich Strause: trumpet
Alec Spiegelman: clarinet
Jon Bistline: bass
Billy Beard: drums

You always hurt the one you love
The one you shouldn't hurt at all
You always take the sweetest rose
And crush it till the petals fall
You always break the kindest heart
With a hasty word you can't recall, so
If I broke your heart last night
It's because I love you most of all
You always hurt the one you love
The one you shouldn't hurt at all
You always take the sweetest rose
And crush it till the petals fall
You always break the kindest heart
With a hasty word you can't recall
So, if I broke your heart last night
It's because I love you most of all
You always hurt the one you love
The one you shouldn't hurt at all
You always take the sweetest rose
Crush it, till the petals fall
You always break the kindest heart
With a hasty word you can't recall, so
If I broke your heart last night
It's because I love you most of all

I Can’t Get Out (Bistline, Shadwell)

From Diving For Gold (2009)
Produced by Paul Kolderie
Recorded at Camp Street Studio
Engineered by Paul Kolderie, Adam Taylor, Alex Hartman

Jon Bistline: lead vocal, field organ, electric piano
Rose Polenzani: vocals
Ry Cavanaugh: bass
Jim Fitting: harmonica
Dinty Child: acoustic guitar, tenor banjo
Sean Staples: bouzouki
Lyle Brewer: electric guitar
Billy Beard: drums

I follow crumbs and guess
Which way did you go?
You're off the map and on to words
That I have never known
Confessions and regrets
Make whispers and goodbyes
You're leaking all the daylight out
Along the path behind
I can't get out
So I'll just let you in
Just to show you all the things
That I think should have been
I can't get out
So I'll just let you in
Just to show you all the things
How graceful yet unkind
I've left you wanting more
My words have flown around the room
And scattered on the floor
This moment's passed away
So I'll try not to let go
The hope we've held along the way
Despite the war below
I can't get out
So I'll just let you in
Just to show you all the things
That I think should have been
I can't get out
So I'll just let you in
Just to show you all the things
I can't get out
So I'll just let you in
Just to show you all the things
That I think should have been
I can't get out
So I'll just let you in
Just to show you all

Boats Up The River (traditional)

From Table Top People Vol 1 + 2 (2005)
Produced by Billy Conway
Recorded at Hi-N-Dry, Cambridge, MA
Engineered by Tom Dube

Sean Staples: lead vocal, guitar
Eric Royer: banjo
Dinty Child: fiddle
Kimon Kirk: double bass
Billy Beard: drums

Boat’s up the river, won’t come down
Tellin’ by the way she is headed Alabama bound
Alabama bound boys, Alabama bound
Tellin’ by the way she is headed Alabama bound
Just one thing boys that troubles my mind
It’s that old Waterbury and she won’t keep time
Won’t keep time boys, won’t keep time
It’s that old Waterbury and she won’t keep time
If that water was whiskey and I was a duck
I would dive down to the bottom and never come up
Never come up boys, never come up
I would dive down to the bottom and never come up
That river’s not whiskey, I’m not a duck
I’ll just play the jack of diamonds and rely on my luck
Rely on my luck boys, rely on my luck
I’ll just play the jack of diamonds and rely on my luck
That boat’s up the river, won’t come down
Tellin’ by the way she is headed Alabama bound
Alabama bound boys, Alabama bound
Tellin’ by the way she is headed Alabama bound

Mississippi Mud (Fitting)

Jim Fitting: lead vocal, harmonica
Jefferson Hamer: electric guitar
Ry Cavanaugh: acoustic guitar
Dinty Child: accordion, field organ
Kimon Kirk: bass
Billy Beard: drums

I’ve heard the stories the stevedores and rounders told
The tall tales of the great shakes and Mike Fink of old
But did you ever hear the story of:
The Army Corps versus the Mississippi Mud?
The two been fighting for a hundred years
Ain’t no river gonna beat the engineers
They studied, and straightened and dredged that mud
Wrote books, built levees and stopped some floods
But when the rain starts and the sky’s black as night
The river is rising, looking for a fight
Every time the river wins a round
They start dredging more mud out of the ground
But the river never rests and it never sleeps
Never makes promises the river can’t keep
And when the levee breaks, they all weep and moan
The Mississippi mud’s (just) looking for a home
Mississippi mud where you gonna go?
You built the delta can’t go (there) no more
Salt is seeping in the Cypress groves
And the shrimpers are sighing down on the bayou
Play your bets, but don’t forget: the river’s got nothing to lose
Steam doctors on the deck, selling potions to the rubes
And Charlie’s on the levee singing “The High Water Blues”
The readings are high at the Vicksburg gauge
And the flood risk management plan has been engaged
I thought I heard the Army Corps general say:
“The only thing left to do is pray”
And when the levee breaks they all weep and moan
Mississippi mud’s looking for a home
Mississippi mud where you gonna go?
Built the delta can’t go no more
Salt is seeping in the Cypress groves
And the shrimpers are sighing down on the bayou

It’s Not Texas (Child)

From Pack Up The Circus (2015)
Produced by Anais Mitchell and Session Americana
Recorded at Q Division Studios, Cambridge, MA
Engineered by Matt Beaudoin

Dinty Child: lead vocal, acoustic guitar
Ry Cavanaugh: vocals, mandola
Duke Levine: electric guitar
Jim Fitting: harmonica
Alec Spiegelman: clarinet
Dietrich Strause: piano
Jon Bistline: bass
Billy Beard: drums

Just another pretty face
A decent voice a beat up case
It’s open mics and Meet ’N’ Threes
And Music Row indignities
But Nashville has a tribe of those
Who need the music in their bones
Who don’t judge age by young or old
Or worth by what gets bought and sold
But I remember when we used to drive through Austin
With the pick up windows down
Find a country station
And sing along too loud
So if they should ask about me
Or the place I lay my head
Tell them it’s alright but it’s not Texas
Tell them it’s alright but it’s not Texas
Snow is freezing in your hair
Hands so numb they’re barely there
And people’s eyes they turn away
Boston can be cold that way
But there is magic in the snow
You don’t know warm till you’ve been cold
And when you’re here it’s understood
A friend hard won’s a friend for good
But I remember when we’d float down Frio River
On a yellow April day
Tans and tubes and waving hi to strangers down the way
So if they should ask about me
Or the place I lay my head
Tell them it’s alright but it’s not Texas
Tell them it’s alright but it’s not Texas
Plastic skin and satin lips
In neon lights on Sunset Strip
The beat goes by in shiny cars
And everyone will be a star
But LA lays down by the sea
She’s breathing electricity
And telling us as angels might
We’re made of stars so it’s alright
But I remember all the two step nights on old wood floors
With fiddles in the band
Sunday dinner after church
With please and thank you ma’am
So if they should ask about me
Or the place I lay my head
Tell them it’s alright but it’s not Texas
You can tell them I’m ok but it’s not Texas

Love Changes Everything (Correia)

From Love And Dirt (2012)
Produced by Paul Kolderie, Matt Malikowski, Session Americana
Recorded at Camp Street Studios, Cambridge, MA + Dimension Sound, Jamaica Plain, MA
Engineered by Paul Kolderie, Adam Taylor, Alex Hartman, Matt Malikowski

Laura Cortese: 1st lead vocal
Ry Cavanaugh: 2nd lead vocal, acoustic guitar, slide guitar
Dinty Child: 3rd lead vocal, mandocello, field organ
Jim Fitting: 4th lead vocal, harmonica
Jimmy Ryan: mandolin
Jon Bistline: bass
Billy Beard: drums

You can run, you can run into these arms
You can love, you can have love if you want
When you see the beauty that you are
Love changes everything
You are young, you are young and brave of heart
Are you strong enough to let down your guard?
Can you stand up to it when your armor breaks apart
Love changes everything
Love changes everything
Night after night passes like a long slow train
I'm uncertain when we might see each other again
I put my heart into this simple refrain
So you could hear me in it when I say
Love changes everything
When darkness spreads out like a flag unfurled
You hear the trembling of this wild and naked world
Every voice out here, crying to be heard
And you heard my words
Love changes everything
Love changes everything
Guides the wild geese in their flight
Breaks the morning and uncovers night
Turns weakness into might
It makes me want to do what's right
Love changes everything
Holds me deep inside its sway
Bends the river on its way
To the ocean where we will lay
Side by side someday
At the helm it takes the wheel,
Turns the tide & carries the keel
To safe harbor that's what's real and in my arms I hope You will feel everything
Love changes everything

Air, Running Backwards (Travis, Greenberger)

From Northeast (2019)
Produced by Kris Delmhorst, Ry Cavanaugh
Recorded at Q Division Studios, Cambridge, MA
Engineered by Matt Beaudoin

Kris Delmhorst: lead vocal, acoustic guitar
Jennifer Kimball: vocals
Dietrich Strause: fingerpicked guitar
Ry Cavanaugh: field organ
Jason Anick: violin
Dinty Child: piano
Duke Levine: electric guitar
Jon Bistline: bass
Billy Beard: drums

Can't go much faster, can't make it right
Think of you and drive into the night
It's too hard to read a map, it tells too much
It's all paper, I want your touch
Touch my hand and touch my heart
Drop into my world on a feather dart
Made for two, just hang on and pull me up to you
Air, running backwards
More air, too late
Air, inside of you
Do you even know that you take mine away?
When will it fall in place, maybe it can't
Crazy to think it will when you hold out your hand
Touch my hand and touch my heart
Drop into my world on a feather dart
Made for two, just hang on and pull me up to you
Air, running backwards
More air, too late
Air, inside of you
Do you even know that you take mine away?
Can't go much faster, can't make it right
Think of you and drive into the night

Doreen (Sandman)

From Live 2011
Produced by Ry Cavanaugh
Recorded at Lizard Lounge, Cambridge, MA
Engineered by Matt Malikowski, Joe Stewart

Billy Beard: lead vocal, drums
Dinty Child: mandolin
Jim Fitting: harmonica
Ry Cavanaugh: field organ
Sean Staples: acoustic guitar
Kimon Kirk: bass

I'm going out now with this girl
She's pretty nice, she's not bad
I met her in a restaurant
Way way up in Montpelier, Vermont
What's her name?
You wanna know her name?
Yeah, what's her name?
All right, I'll tell ya, her name is Doreen
Doreen
We went on a camping trip
We spent the whole time in the tent
We get along so good
We'll probably go out for a while
What's her name?
You wanna know her name?
Yeah, what's her name?
All right, I'll tell ya, her name is Doreen
Well she’s the best girl I’ve ever gone out with
I’ve never met a girl like her before
Maybe it’s the way she dances so sexy
When they made that girl you know they broke the mold
What's her name?
You wanna know her name?
Yeah, what's her name?
All right, I'll tell ya, her name is Doreen
Doreen

I Ain’t Living Long Like This (Crowell)

From Live at the Haybarn Theatre (2018)
Recorded at Haybarn Theatre, Goddard College, Plainfield, VT
Engineered by Bennet Shapiro

Jim Fitting: lead vocal, harmonica
Ry Cavanaugh: acoustic guitar
Jefferson Hamer: electric guitar
Dinty Child: field organ
Kimon Kirk: bass
Billy Beard: drums

I looked for trouble and I found it son
Straight down the barrel of a law man’s gun
I’d try to run but I don’t think I can
He said you make one move and you’re a dead man friend
Ain’t living long like this
Can’t live at all like this
He slipped the handcuffs on behind my back
And left me freezing on the steel rail rack
They got ‘em all in the jailhouse baby
Ain’t living long like this
I can’t live at all like this
Can I baby?
Grew up in Houston off the Wayside Drive
Son of a carhop in some all night dive
Dad drove a stock car to an early death
All I remember was a drunk man’s breath
Ain’t living long like this
Can’t live at all like this, Can I baby?
You know the story about the jail house rock
Go on and do just don’t get caught
They got ‘em all in the jailhouse baby
Ain’t living long like this
Can’t live at all like this
Can I baby?
I live for Angel she’s a roadhouse queen
Make Texas Ruby look like Sandra Dee
I wanna love her but I don’t know how
I’m at the bottom of the Jailhouse now
Ain’t living long like this
Can’t live at all like this can I baby?
You know the story how the wheel goes round
Don’t let ‘em take you to the man downtown
Can’t sleep at all in the jailhouse baby
Ain’t living long like this
Can’t live at all like this
Can I baby?

Lighthouse Light (Cavanaugh)

From Table Top People Vol 1 + 2 (2005)
Produced by Billy Conway
Recorded at Hi-N-Dry, Cambridge, MA
Engineered by Tom Dube

Ry Cavanaugh: lead vocal, acoustic guitar
Jennifer Kimball: vocals
Sean Staples: mandolin
Duke Levine: electric guitar
Jim Fitting: harmonica
Kimon Kirk: bass
Billy Beard: drums

Lighthouse light, keep on shining
Keep those ships from your shore
Lighthouse light, keep on shining
Shine on the one that I adore
There's a ferry boat coming
'Cross the cold grey sea
There's a ferry boat coming
Bringing my love home to me
There is lightning in the distance
Coming in from the west
There is lightning in the distance
Thinking of the one that I love best
Lighthouse light, keep on shining
Keep those ships from your shore
Lighthouse light, keep on shining
Shine on the one that I adore