Get all 10 Pete Mancini releases available on Bandcamp and save 15%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Cartwheel Avenue (ft. Iain Matthews), The Commonwealth Sessions: Vol. 1, Live on WDVX, Killing The Old Ways, Old Wooden Cross/Potter's Field, Millions More/Seven Generations, Flying First Class (Expanded Edition), Monument, and 2 more.
1. |
Pine Box Derby
04:04
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A block of knotty pine and four plastic wheels
I can still smell the dust and the paint and the peels
Dad helped me carve it for the big race day
We put it on the track and sent it on its way
I lost the first place ribbon many years ago
When I started down this troubled road
Now I’m holding this token in my shaky hand
Wish somebody warned me but now i understand
It hurts like hell
To lose someone you love
It’s worse when you’re cursed
With a hand me down crutch
I wish i could go back
To those pinewood days
Find the right track and just
Drift away, drift away
There was a time where I thought I could feel no pain
Well I just found out it doesn’t work that way
Mistakes come to haunt you in the blink of an eye
The bottle seemed like a good place to hide
I wonder if I'll ever have kids of my own
We'd race the pine box derby before they're grown
And when they go off running down that same old track
I’ll give them a place they can always come back
It hurts like hell
To lose someone you love
It’s worse when you’re cursed
With a hand me down crutch
I wish i could go back
To those pinewood days
Find the right track and just
Drift away, drift away
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2. |
My Hometown
04:56
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Punch my card, I’m on the clock
The steady drip of the coffee pot
A main street morning time forgot
Here in my hometown
Delicatessen, Veterans hall
People talk about it all
Sunday sports, market free fall
Here in my hometown
My hometown, My hometown
A town of half staff flags
It’s such a drag
I think I’m sinking down
My hometown, My hometown
I’d rather be dead in the ground
Than drop roots in my hometown
Dollar stores, souvenir mugs
The motor lodge where junkies hole up
Cell phone towers, wasted hours
Here in my hometown
Filthy rags, empty dime bags
Newspaper scraps, bottle caps
Klan flyers left out on the ground
Here in my hometown
My hometown, My hometown
A town of thoughts and prayers
That go nowhere
Crosses weigh you down
My hometown, My hometown
I’d rather be dead in the ground
Than drop roots in my hometown
Sunshine slowly fades to gray
There’s traffic out on the parkway
I punch my card for another day
Here in my hometown
Lying in my bed awake
I pray the Lord my soul to take
Start to plan out my escape
Away from my hometown
My hometown, My hometown
A town of half staff flags
It’s such a drag
Bullets cut you down
My hometown, My hometown
I’d rather be dead in the ground
Than drop roots in my hometown
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3. |
Cease and Desist
04:24
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12 packs of beer
Out of tune guitars
A song about a train wreck
That will never make the charts
Sneaking into sports bars
You’re still too young to play
They say you gotta pay your dues
Before you can get paid
A letter came today… it said
Cease and desist, put a stop to this
We done it first, don't ya know?
We got lawyers on the way, So just stop today
Whats mine is mine and not yours anymore
Now you’ve got it working, man
You start to make a scene
People from all over
Pay to watch you live your dream
Promoter says he really likes
Your brand new demo tape
Its conference calls, exhibit halls
You’ve finally got it made
A letter came today, it said...
Cease and desist, put a stop to this
We done it first, don't ya know?
We got lawyers on the way, So just stop today
Whats mine is mine and not yours anymore
The well has almost dried up
The scene has all moved on
Promoter wants a DJ
Not another train beat song
Stuck in shitty sports bars
The only bars you play
You paid your dues, you’re born to lose
It shouldn’t be this way
So you hung it up today...
Cease and desist, put a stop to this
We done it first, don't ya know?
We got lawyers on the way, So just stop today
Whats mine is mine and not yours anymore
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4. |
DUI Blues
03:15
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You stood up in the bar light
Bought another round
Smiled at me and said
“Just one more”
A country band was playin’
And you were set on stayin’
We drank until they kicked us
Out the door
Stumbled to the parking lot
Fumbled with the keys
Started up the car
Feeling stoned
Flying down the highway
At six AM on Sunday
I thank my lucky stars
I got you home
I thank my lucky stars I got you home
Having you on my arm sure beats drinking alone
They say that it’s a privilege, not a right
Oh I should have left my car at home last night
Woke up the next morning
In spite of all the warnings
A headache and a bad taste
On my breath
Talked about the evening
We both had took a beating
There’s something to be said
About cheating death
I thank my lucky stars I got you home
Having you on my arm sure beats drinking alone
They say that it’s a privilege, not a right
Oh I should have left my car at home last night
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5. |
SLA Check
05:22
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Friday night
Red River Inn
Parked the bike out front
for a taste of sin
Tonight's my night
I've been working all week
This jam band shit is putting me to sleep
I don’t wanna hear Down By The River, man
Play Sweet Home Alabama just as loud as you can
Been patching holes in walls
Since the bubble burst
Now I can’t decide which is worse
Losing your home
Or having none at all
Some nights I stumble
Some nights I fall
But it was ID’s out
Hands on the bar
It’s an SLA check, flashlights, cop cars
Up against the wall
I was under duress
Til they pulled my pistol
From under my vest
Chief came in, he looked me up and down
Said we don’t like your type in this here town
They read my rights and helped me into the car
It’s an SLA check, handcuffs, steel bars
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6. |
Back in Bakersfield
03:54
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Sulking down suburban streets
Initials carved in wet concrete
The fossilized remains
Of young and carefree days
I'm back in Bakersfield
Drove a John Deere through the fields of Kern County
But that Dear John letter followed me
If I bought the farm today
I'd have nothing to give away
I’m back in Bakersfield
Bakersfield
The place where I was born and raised
The place I swore I'd never stay
But here I am again
I left the city
To work the land after the war
I had planned on doing more
Here I am again
On the street again
My heart grew hard inside me
Like the armor kits attached to those Humvee's
I drove them through the sand
With my rifle close at hand
defending Bakersfield
Bakersfield
The place where I was born and raised
The place I swore I'd never stay
But here I am again
I left the city
To go and fight a rich man's war
I had planned on doing more
Here I am again
On the street again
Sulking down suburban streets
Sleeping out on the hard concrete
The trembling remains
Of frightened foxhole days
I'm back in Bakersfield
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7. |
Casino Lights
03:12
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Casino lights
Don’t seem so bright in hindsight
When you walked through the door
I spent a little more and it seemed so right
Jack and coke
Cigarette smoke between us
We took a rental car to a topless bar
The tinted windows made us feel like stars
Casino lights
Never seem as bright in hindsight
The morning stings
Alarm clock rings in my ear
We shuffle around
All the sights and sounds don’t change round here
Day and night
Flashing light surrounding
Designer drugs and limousines
Reminding me to just cash out and leave
Casino lights
Never seem as bright in hindsight
I'm going under, I'm going under again
Just stay with me, girl; I know we’ll win again
Casino lights
Never seem as bright in hindsight
Never seem as bright in hindsight
Never seem as bright in hindsight
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8. |
Flying First Class
02:18
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Traded in the small town you called home
For a high rise apartment and some Cotes Du Rhone
Your glass is still empty and you don’t know why
Geographical cures are expensive lies
Sky high, hell yeah
You’re flying first class
With the wind in your hair
Crash land, oh no
Down in flames
That's the way it goes
Hit the bricks, phone in hand
Show everyone you know you think life is grand
A grand ain't worth what it used to be
When the rent check clears you’ll see what I mean
Sky high, hell yeah
You’re flying first class
With the wind in your hair
Crash land, oh no
Down in flames
That's the way it goes
Hail a cab in the rain
Gotta catch a train
Happy hour on a weekday
Down by the Barclays
All your fair-weather friends didn't call bull
When you regaled them with tales of bootstraps pulled
Self diagnosed case of a self made star
a shot of Novocaine from the mini bar
Sky high, hell yeah
You’re flying first class
With the wind in your hair
Crash land, oh no
Down in flames
That's the way it goes
Cab is on the way
Gotta catch another train
Brunch on a Sunday
Puking by the Barclays
You want the happy home on a cul-de-sac
A corner office and a Cadillac
A ride on the Montauk Cannonball
So you can say some day you had it all
Sky high, hell yeah
You’re flying first class
With the wind in your hair
Crash land, oh no
Down in flames
That's the way it goes
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9. |
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We met on the ledge
You told me the coast was clear
Swept out with the tide
I tried, but i disappeared
Scientists say it takes seven years
To come back new
But that’s a long wait
For a fuck up without a clue
Regret
Twists the knife
It’s been chasing me down
For my whole life
The day i stopped running
Was the day I ran into you
We floated around
Thought we had found something true
We never touched down
Drowned in the fluorescent hue
Nights that we shared
Seemed closer than they appeared
Like flickering lights
Blinding my rear-view mirror
Regret
Twists the knife
It’s been chasing me down
For my whole life
The day i stopped running
Was the day i ran into you
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Pete Mancini New York, New York
NYC Americana Power Pop
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