Get all 9 Bob Hillman releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Downtown in the Rain, More Songs About Birds & Trees, Bob Hillman & Spooky Ghost, Inside & Terrified, Some of Us Are Free, Some of Us Are Lost, Lost Soul, If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home, Welcome To My Century, and 1 more.
1. |
Somebody's Watching You
03:16
|
|||
|
Somebody's watching you
From an outlandish height
Way up above us here
Like, in the stratosphere
In an unfinished room
Except for a new machine
With a remote control
And an enormous screen
Images populate
Geniuses analyze
The savvy observer sees
Interdependencies
We go about our lives
With characteristic ease
Shopping for peace of mind
And other necessities
You are a speck of dirt
You are a grain of sand
You are a blade of grass
Under an overpass
Could you be scared to death?
I've had a heart attack
Walking alone at night
Just to the bar and back
|
||||
2. |
||||
|
While reconciling the children
And pulling away from the curb
I disturbed someone’s mailbox
The car having been in reverse
We may be getting better
When we’re not getting worse
The guy on the library corner
Pontificated at me
As if he wrote the bible
A master of chapter and verse
We may be getting better
When we’re not getting worse
Cautious optimism
Head-in-the-oven despair
I’m prepared for disaster
But hoping we won’t get there
Down at the town demonstration
Families were all taking part
It’s an art form: a portal
Into a new universe
We may be getting better
When we’re not getting worse
|
||||
3. |
||||
|
Little is known about the author
At least in terms of her biography
We have no idea what she looks like
Or what sort of person she might be
A popular, award-winning author
Who insists on anonymity
She needs every ounce of concentration
Even more than good publicity
Elena, Elena
The shadow of a shadow
We don't need to know
Little is known about the author
Her publisher deferred our inquiry
Citing the conditions of her contract
And the basic right to privacy
Someone will identify the author
The critics, in particular, have tried
Undertaking their investigations
Nothing has as yet been verified
Elena, Elena
The shadow of a shadow
We don't need to know
Little is known about the author
Other than a waterfall of words
Organized in paragraphs and pages
Almost information overload
Elena, Elena
The shadow of a shadow
We don't need to know
|
||||
4. |
Las Vegas
04:12
|
|||
|
In the morning
When the cards are asleep
You can't read but you weep anyway
There' sa hard luck case
With a strip poker face who will say:
Rotgut tequila all around
Two more cards and I'll take you to bed
In the car like I said
I can't quit, I'm ahead
But I'll try
Morning is a lie in Las Vegas
In the morning
When the rumors begin
Of the day stealing into the sky
Did the night finally fall?
Fairy tales, don't believe them at all
Take one good look around
Don't be surprised if the windows insist
That the doors don't exist
And the walls take the fifth
No reply
Morning is a lie in Las Vegas
In the morning
There's an Oklahoma man
Playing two dollar hands with his wife
And the Keno brigade meets the lowlifes who played
through the night
Is this the end of the world?
Don't tell me the American way
Is a breakfast buffet
And a buck on the bay
Tell me why
Morning is a lie in Las Vegas
|
||||
5. |
Urban Wildlife
05:41
|
|||
|
The local coyote demanded attention
By blocking a neighborhood street
Man, you could tell she was serious, but
About what? Maybe wanting to eat
Restless eyes hypnotize
A spirit in disguise as urban wildlife
The long line of cars was impatient but ours
Idled. We were enjoying the view
A predator who has adapted, a new
Kind of partnership, living with you
Nativists: don’t resist
We can co-exist with urban wildlife
After a lifetime the local coyote
Abandoned the stand-off and fled
Straight up a hill in a thrilling ascent
Through the brush. “Into hiding,” I said
The line of cars advances, ours
Is never very far from urban wildlife
|
||||
Bob Hillman San Francisco, California
Bob Hillman is navigating the second act of a career that began in the late 90s, flourished in the early 00s, survived ten years of “real jobs,” and resumed in 2016 with the Peter Case- produced Lost Soul.
If you like Bob Hillman, you may also like:
Postcards From the Country
by Trae Sheehan
West Virginia country-folk singer-songwriter Trae Sheehan aims to find a balance between the traditional and the modern on his new LP.
go to album
Forever Only Idaho
by Harrison Lemke
Big, strummy songs that recall the heart-on-sleeve earnestness and lo-fi glory of early Mountain Goats.
go to album
Thumbs Up Angel
by Mink's Miracle Medicine
The first single from Mink's Miracle Medicine forthcoming LP is a shimmery work of melancholy modern country.
go to album
Pittsburgh artist Merce Lemon makes tender and open-hearted indie pop with echoes of Frankie Cosmos.
go to album
Sweet and honest bedroom pop made with the sparest of instrumentation and topped with poetically melancholy lyrics.
go to album
A vibrant vision of "Central Americana" from the Costa Rica-based artist, blending heartland devotionals with playful Tropicália grooves.
go to album
A fresh, constantly-evolving vision on Americana from the New York trio, weaving together bluegrass, roots music, and pop rock.
go to album
