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The Songman & Me, vol 1

by Joe Craig

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  • Streaming + Download

    You can download individual songs by clicking on them, below.

    If you download the whole album in one go you automatically also get all of this:

    - 3 videos you won't find anywhere else, featuring intimate rehearsal performances of two songs.

    - a beautifully designed digital booklet with original artwork, photography and Joe's notes on the songs.

    - all the lyrics.

    - a doodle of a monkey.

    You can download the whole 11-track album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any format you like. The bonus videos are in wmv so if you use a Mac you might need to convert them to mov.
    ... more
    Purchasable with gift card

      £5 GBP  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Limited edition CD, beautifully designed and printed, complete with a 16 page booklet containing the thoughts behind the songs and some lush images.

    A great gift, a proud addition to any music collection.

    When you buy the CD, you also get immediate download of the whole album: 11-tracks in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 1000 
    Purchasable with gift card

      £7 GBP or more 

     

  • If you'd like just one 'Jimmy Coates' book (signed by the author, of course) then you can also download Joe Craig's whole album for free!

    You can specify which book (or books) you'd like at the checkout. There are 8 books available:

    Jimmy Coates: Killer
    Jimmy Coates: Target
    Jimmy Coates: Revenge
    Jimmy Coates: Sabotage
    Jimmy Coates: Survival
    Jimmy Coates: Power
    Jimmy Coates: Blackout
    Lifters

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Songman & Me, vol 1 via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £6 GBP or more 

     

  • - All 7 Jimmy Coates books (the full set so far), each one signed by the author, Joe Craig

    - A signed copy of Joe Craig's first non-Jimmy Coates book, the short thriller 'Lifters'.

    - Instant download of Joe Craig's album, 'The Songman & Me, vol. 1' so you can start listening straight away

    (IMPORTANT: This option DOES include the latest Jimmy Coates book, Jimmy Coates: Blackout, even though it's not in one of the pictures.)

    So you're getting 8 books, in total.
    ships out within 4 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £44 GBP or more 

     

1.
THE TRAVELLING SONGMAN Joe Craig He writes the words at traffic lights, on roads that tunes forgot Precious seconds stopping are the only ones he’s got He sings his life in melodies and poorly scripted lines That seemed so realistic sung at station platform signs He won’t trouble you for conversation, he just moves On to his next destination… The travelling songman, he was on that train He didn’t stay long and he won’t come this way again The travelling songman, he’s seen the world, and he’s seen each and every one of us in the songs we’ve heard He left a girl at yesterday, he loved one on the coast His son has read his stories like they’re letters from a ghost I know that he’s in pain, though he won’t let you see I can tell - I know him. This travelling song man’s me I won’t trouble you for conversation I just move on to my next destination… (CHORUS) What’s the hurry? Why won’t he stay? What’s he trying to find? Or why’s he running away? Single ticket, all alone He'd like to settle down, but music is his home… The travelling song man, he was on that train He didn’t stay long and he won’t come this way again. The travelling songman, he’s seen the world and he’s seen each and every one of us in the songs we’ve heard.
2.
Full Circle 02:22
FULL CIRCLE Joe Craig The nights just get better and better Maybe it comes with practice - being without you The days are just a heap of fun I feel like I could spend them with anyone And we have turned full circle I'm glad that I feel like crying Never thought I'd cope so well - being without you I feel like all my clocks are slow They tell me that you left just a short time ago But we have turned full circle I'm getting very good at being sad Or maybe it's a skill I've always had It had never been tested before, with you Now I know this end of the journey Back where I began - being without you But if you wanted time to see If you could dance again with me Then we could turn full circle Please, let's turn full circle
3.
Jealousy 03:06
JEALOUSY Joe Craig Jealousy, I never thought you'd come for me You hit me hard and can't you see I'm only human and I tried But I can't help thinking someone lied and maybe it was me. Jealousy, I wish you would pity me Times have changed and now I see I'm not the lucky person I used to be Now who will envy me? Funny how everything seems different now Things I had I'm not allowed It's natural to be scared Envy took everything I had and now I want my old life back Jealousy, that screaming voice in Hell is me People treat me silently Now they turn away from what they just don't want to see Who will envy me? La, la, la... Jealousy, I never thought you'd come for me You hit me hard and can't you see I'm only human and I tried But I couldn't help it: someone lied and maybe it was me. Set me free I don't deserve your sympathy I brought it on myself you see I belong to you now, Jelaousy Who will envy me? Who will envy me?
4.
MORE THAN I DO Joe Craig If I loved you any more than I do Skies would be below us Crops would stop to grow us If I loved you any more than I do Trees would fly like eagles Who'd live inland with seagulls If I loved you any more than I do If I loved you any more than I do Memories would all be real Thieves would be employed to steal Every contradiction would have to be true If opposites were possible And the fictional were actual If I loved you any more than I do If someone stole Niagra and put it in Berlin If someone put the desert in the sea My heart could grow from bursting point To let some more love in But loving you is all there is of me I couldn't feel stronger about you If my head became my shoulders And heat could make me colder If I loved you any more than I do I couldn't love you better Just like water can't get wetter If I loved you any more than I do The day I see the moon come down to live in old Paris The minute there's a smile I can ignore That's the day I'll know you're not the one for me But it's never going to happen, thank the lord I couldn't feel stronger about you If my head became my shoulders And heat could make me colder If I loved you any more than I do I couldn't love you better Just like water can't get wetter If I loved you any more than I do
5.
ROMANTIC SONG Joe Craig This might sound a little strange But I never saw the point before of things like flowers These days my attitude has changed If it's raining in the garden I'll watch for hours And I don't need a reason to send you roses You made me someone romantic, my love Just so romantic, my love And I wasn't before You kiss me and I feel romantic, my love Oh so romantic, sweet love So keep kissing me more I'd like to spoil you with breakfast in bed On a secret island hideaway with emerald beaches Champagne, caviar or chocolate instead Let's fly in our balloon and see how high it reaches We could sing romantic songs and watch the sunset CHORUS You brought out the sunshine in candlelight You put corner tables at the centre of my mind Anything I thought was wrong, you put it right You and I should run away, leave the world behind... CHORUS
6.
I'VE BEEN HOLDING ON Joe Craig Got to make that call, got to fix that tap before I catch that train Got hit that button, got to make the grade, I can't be late again I have to meet the expectations that are put in me I've been holding on to what I've got I know it's not enough But I've been holding not breaking down while all around I see my friends have given in while I've been holding on It doesn't matter why it doesn't matter what I managed yesterday But it doesn't let up it's upsetting but tough because there's bills to pay I need to merit all the trust that you have put in me CHORUS Time is a beast that has me in its claws How does it know how to tear at my flaws? How did I get involved, tied up in the world when all I said was 'yes'? Now I'm staring at screens, now stifling screams while I clear up their mess I can't say 'no' but even Superman needs Sundays... CHORUS
7.
Monkey Tree 04:05
MONKEY TREE Joe Craig I was thinking about human evolution It says modern man has complex needs. But I have no claim to sophistication. I follow wherever my instinct leads. I'm a simple creature with a primitive heart. They might run the human race, but I got left at the start… I'm like a monkey up in a tree, They could take everything away from me But that wouldn’t hurt me one bit If you, you could be the one to sit with me Up in my monkey tree. Yeah yeah, up in my monkey tree, Oh oh, space here for you and me, Yeah yeah, up in my monkey tree. Hey hey, come up and sit with me, Yeah yeah, up in my monkey tree. You can satisfy my hunger. You can feed me fruit, and comb my hair. You’ve always been the Queen of my jungle, So take your throne in my tropical lair. I’ll survive if I can make it with you. You’re my necessary luxury; let’s stay naked and true… I'm living out on a limb, And it’s my soul on the line, But I feel fine…
8.
UNDERNEATH THE SNOW Joe Craig Come on put your winter coat on, the world is like a cloud to float on There’s something in the air again Romanticised beyond all reason, everyone’s home ‘coz the roads are freezing Think of it as too much cold rain. Over night we’ve moved into a black and white movie Just before the roads are salted why do we get so excited? Everybody knows what’s underneath the snow But it still looks kind of magic when it comes Everything changes underneath the snow Makes us look again at what we think we know, what’s that show? Wrap the scarf around your shoulders, another year, the wind seems colder. You need a place to sit and warm your feet. Soon the winter spell is breaking, all the world is melting, making Puddles in the park and in the street. Before I never saw what happened in a thaw was sadness Never let your life be melting, don’t regret the time that’s passing I wear snow of my own, all year round. And somewhere deep in the ground I know that there are flowers that are waiting To bring in Spring
9.
Solo Street 02:39
SOLO STREET Joe Craig On Solo Street all the people I meet, they won’t stay. I'm in a one bedroom flat, but I like it like that. All the neighbours have moved away An independent man, I’ll get by if I can On Solo Street. I'm all alone, going solo On my own. How did I sink so low? Living on Solo Street. My anonymous face won’t give you a trace of sorrow. I had my fun looking out for number one And I’ll make it back tomorrow. See the look in my eye, I'm not going to cry On Solo Street.
10.
FAITHFUL FRIEND Joe Craig Never forget your faithful friend Don't leave him when he's down No stick with him until the end And your time will come around Yes time will come around again And old will turn to new But if you never forget your faithful friend Then the faithful friend is you
11.

about

I’ve had a lot of songs in my head for a long time. Some fall under my fingers whenever I sit at the piano. Some I can’t stop playing. Some I wrote. I became a novelist a few years ago and might have left the songs behind, but for some reason I couldn’t let them go.

Recently I found myself playing them more often at home, then I played them at book events. I started talking about songwriting as much as I used to in my teens. With some helpful nudges from friends, it felt like it was time to record something.

I wanted to capture the essence of the songs – to create a moment that put across the emotion, the character or the story in the song. So I recorded at home, quickly, with somebody else to worry about technicalities (the brilliant Adaq Khan). I stripped down the arrangements and performed only one or two takes of each song (except for two songs, which needed three takes). The result is raw at times, but I like those moments. That’s when I think the songs themselves are at their best and when, to me, the performances feel most intimate: the bent vocal note on ‘settle down’ in the middle eight of ‘Travelling Songman’; pulling around the tempo in each chorus of ‘Monkey Tree’; the tentative introduction of ‘Faithful Friend’...

It’s not easy to show vulnerability in what you write. I certainly don’t do it in my books, which are designed to be taut, robust thrillers – not a moment to catch your breath. Characters must be vulnerable, of course, but not the author. The author is supreme and god-like, commanding His world. Maybe that’s why I felt unable to let go of the songs. They’re too delicate to abandon. Too much care went into them. They’re too... me.

Joe Craig

credits

released December 15, 2010

All songs written, performed & produced by Joe Craig - www.joecraig.co.uk

Recorded by Adaq Khan - www.adaqkhan.com

Art Direction by Jesse Hayes - www.hayesdesignstudios.com

Photography by Siddharth Khajuria - siddharthkhajuria.com

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Joe Craig Islington, UK

"The Songman & Me, vol. 1 is a collection of beautifully crafted songs in the classic tradition of Billy Joel, Randy Newman, Jimmy Webb and James Taylor. At the keyboard and with his intimate vocals, Joe Craig performs with a raw emotion that cuts to the heart of the characters and stories in the songs. He may be a virtuoso storyteller, but on this evidence, he's very much a gifted songman too." ... more

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