Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance Thread

[jimmyjack]

Let's begin. I've been checking here every day hoping there's gonna be some kinda crazy deluxe pre-order thing. Definitely my most anticipated 2012 release.

[beantownbubba]

just, ummmmm, hold on jj.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[cortez the killer]

Will it be a watershed moment?

[211poundsofpork]

I know that I for one, cannot wait for this release. I thoroughly enjoyed Murdering Oscar a couple of years ago. Does anyone know if there will be any covers on this one? One thing I have not delved into as of yet is Killers and Stars. How is this one? I think I have heard one or two tracks from this, but other than that I really don't know anything about it.

[Tequila Cowboy]

I know that I for one, cannot wait for this release. I thoroughly enjoyed Murdering Oscar a couple of years ago. Does anyone know if there will be any covers on this one? One thing I have not delved into as of yet is Killers and Stars. How is this one? I think I have heard one or two tracks from this, but other than that I really don't know anything about it.

Killers & Stars is quiet and haunting as opposed to Murdering Oscar which was more rocking. It also has a few of my my favorite Patterson songs in The Assassin, Uncle Disney and Pay No Attention To Alice.

The new record will be entirely it's own thing and I think some of the songs are among the finest he's written as well. Of course any Patterson or DBT release is a vinyl lover's dream as you know from the outset that's the way they're meant to be heard.

[jimmyjack]

Agreed. So why no Killers and Stars vinyl?? Would buy.

[Clams]

It's gonna be great

[Zip City]

I'm surprised cortez doesn't have it already

[cortez the killer]

I wish I did. However, if it did leak, I think I'd be about 43rd in line to receive it here.

[Duke Silver]

Can't wait for this. I'll be all over the vinyl per-order. Murdering Oscar is probably the finest piece of vinyl I own.

[GuitarManUpstairs]

Can't wait for this. I'll be all over the vinyl per-order. Murdering Oscar is probably the finest piece of vinyl I own.

Murdering Oscar was the first vinyl record I ever purchased. I had a turntable on the stereo system my parents had given me but it was in the basement gathering dust. I had listened to and enjoyed all my parents collection which were all 30+ years only and in variable condition but never really compared those to digital versions. One night in Athens I caught Patterson during his Caledonia residency a few years ago and combined with the fact that i had been reading all of Patterson's homages to vinyl and it was only $5 more plus included the CD, I was sold....then duly blown away and hooked on vinyl for records i love ever since.

[Lurleen McQueen]

Boy - it was such a treat to get two back-to-back solo shows recently. These songs are sad and painful and elegant and eloquent... This is definately going to be one of my all-time favorites and will wear out my ipod...

I know that I am so very biased in favor of Patterson's songs and stories and writing, but maybe that's not a bad thing. I relate so much to the experiences about which Patterson writes. It is such an easy leap to make these stories my own.

Come Back Little Star is my favorite so far.

The character in 12:01 reminds me of some of my saddest days in my addiction...just looking for the next drink or drug to numb my miserable existence and the desperate repition of the damaging behavior --

I can't remember which song it is - but there's a line that jumped out at me, "I'm just looking for an acceptable level of bullshit I can live with" -- I love the way Patterson bends the pronunciation of the word acceptable...I think I need to make this my new signature...

Leaving Time - I love how this song bookends with Fifteen Days - there is a line in 15 days that talks about looking through the bus window at a flock of birds and not being able to catch the beauty in a photo for the children - it just makes my heart ache and it resonates for me with how it feels to really miss someone

Disappear - this song perfectly captures my experience of growing up in a fear-filled house with an abusive father - "sometimes I disappear - I learned to at an early age" -- exactly how I felt when hiding in my closet and trying to quietly escape the rage

Heat Lighting Rumbles In The Distance - this song has some of the most beautiful imagery and really captures Patterson's love for his wife and children - I love this one...

If Patterson has a solo show within a 1,000 miles of you this summer - make it your mission in life to get there. You'll be glad you did.

[jimmyjack]

Great post!

[Zip City]

So no release date yet, eh?

[Kudzu Guillotine]

So no release date yet, eh?

I'm pretty sure it's been posted that it's coming out on September 11th.

[Zip City]

So no release date yet, eh?

I'm pretty sure it's been posted that it's coming out on September 11th.

oops my bad

[Smitty]

Boy - it was such a treat to get two back-to-back solo shows recently. These songs are sad and painful and elegant and eloquent... This is definately going to be one of my all-time favorites and will wear out my ipod...

I know that I am so very biased in favor of Patterson's songs and stories and writing, but maybe that's not a bad thing. I relate so much to the experiences about which Patterson writes. It is such an easy leap to make these stories my own.

Come Back Little Star is my favorite so far.

The character in 12:01 reminds me of some of my saddest days in my addiction...just looking for the next drink or drug to numb my miserable existence and the desperate repition of the damaging behavior --

I can't remember which song it is - but there's a line that jumped out at me, "I'm just looking for an acceptable level of bullshit I can live with" -- I love the way Patterson bends the pronunciation of the word acceptable...I think I need to make this my new signature...

Leaving Time - I love how this song bookends with Fifteen Days - there is a line in 15 days that talks about looking through the bus window at a flock of birds and not being able to catch the beauty in a photo for the children - it just makes my heart ache and it resonates for me with how it feels to really miss someone

Disappear - this song perfectly captures my experience of growing up in a fear-filled house with an abusive father - "sometimes I disappear - I learned to at an early age" -- exactly how I felt when hiding in my closet and trying to quietly escape the rage

Heat Lighting Rumbles In The Distance - this song has some of the most beautiful imagery and really captures Patterson's love for his wife and children - I love this one...

If Patterson has a solo show within a 1,000 miles of you this summer - make it your mission in life to get there. You'll be glad you did.

"Better than the Truth" is the song with the "acceptable level of bullshit" line - I'm stoked to hear the studio of "Better Off Without", which actually is an early DBT song - I've got a live recording of it somewhere.

[Penny Lane]

Boy - it was such a treat to get two back-to-back solo shows recently. These songs are sad and painful and elegant and eloquent... This is definately going to be one of my all-time favorites and will wear out my ipod...

I know that I am so very biased in favor of Patterson's songs and stories and writing, but maybe that's not a bad thing. I relate so much to the experiences about which Patterson writes. It is such an easy leap to make these stories my own.

Come Back Little Star is my favorite so far.

The character in 12:01 reminds me of some of my saddest days in my addiction...just looking for the next drink or drug to numb my miserable existence and the desperate repition of the damaging behavior --

I can't remember which song it is - but there's a line that jumped out at me, "I'm just looking for an acceptable level of bullshit I can live with" -- I love the way Patterson bends the pronunciation of the word acceptable...I think I need to make this my new signature...

Leaving Time - I love how this song bookends with Fifteen Days - there is a line in 15 days that talks about looking through the bus window at a flock of birds and not being able to catch the beauty in a photo for the children - it just makes my heart ache and it resonates for me with how it feels to really miss someone

Disappear - this song perfectly captures my experience of growing up in a fear-filled house with an abusive father - "sometimes I disappear - I learned to at an early age" -- exactly how I felt when hiding in my closet and trying to quietly escape the rage

Heat Lighting Rumbles In The Distance - this song has some of the most beautiful imagery and really captures Patterson's love for his wife and children - I love this one...

If Patterson has a solo show within a 1,000 miles of you this summer - make it your mission in life to get there. You'll be glad you did.

jeez, Lurleen...these songs song like gut wrenchers..great post

[ramonz]

I'm really, really looking forward to this release. I'm not sure why, but I haven't given Murdering Oscar the love I gave Killers & Stars - need to change that. I think it has to do w/ what other DBT might be out at the time, not sure, but Heat Lightning is dropping at a perfect time. Can't wait!

[Iowan]

I think, based off the few songs I've heard, and the little bit I've read about it, that this is going to be Patterson's best solo album by a good margin. Murdering Oscar and Killers and Stars have some great songs, but as a whole I don't enjoy them nearly as much as most Trucker albums (need me some Cooley, I guess).

I think this one has potential to shoulder past some of the DBT albums.

[Lurleen McQueen]

jeez, Lurleen...these songs song like gut wrenchers..great post

Yeah, but here's the kicker...

If you just isolate the lyrics, they are deep and dark and sad and tragic (not all of them...), but then the melody supporting the lyrics might be bright and fuzzy or warm and bouncing and light and you find yourself humming along and smiling and feeling all good inside. What gives? It's that same duality that I love in other songs (DBT or Patterson solo).

It reminds me of one of the funniest lines in STAHE when Jason says, "Yeah! Play that song about the depression!"

Patterson has the skill to write some heart-wrenching lyrics and set them to some hauntingly beautiful melodies that at once connect you to the pain of the moment, but also to the joy of surviving it.

[one belt loop]

jeez, Lurleen...these songs song like gut wrenchers..great post

Yeah, but here's the kicker...

If you just isolate the lyrics, they are deep and dark and sad and tragic (not all of them...), but then the melody supporting the lyrics might be bright and fuzzy or warm and bouncing and light and you find yourself humming along and smiling and feeling all good inside. What gives? It's that same duality that I love in other songs (DBT or Patterson solo).

It reminds me of one of the funniest lines in STAHE when Jason says, "Yeah! Play that song about the depression!"

Patterson has the skill to write some heart-wrenching lyrics and set them to some hauntingly beautiful melodies that at once connect you to the pain of the moment, but also to the joy of surviving it.

I haven't heard any of these songs yet, but your description puts me in mind of Glossary's latest, Long Live All of Us - and that was basically my favorite album of last year. Some hard subjects with some great uplifting music and message. So yay.

[Penny Lane]

If it's half as good as Murdering Oscar, I'll be happy. That record is terrific. I've listened to it more than some of the DBT albums.

[Smitty]

Can't fuckin' wait.

[Smitty]

got bored.

Leaving Time

Baby's on the bedroom floor, suitcases and clothes galore
Everyone's just a little bit sore, when it comes to leaving time
Sister ain't got much to say, the unexpected in the worst of spaces (?)
Mama's gonna be pissed all day when it comes to leaving time

So do what you're told without a fuss, run the errands and load the bus
Don't forget to give a damn about us, when it comes to leaving time
Add three hours to the old time zone, faces on the Jetsons' telephone
Sing your songs and then bring it back home, when it comes to leaving time

So hush little baby have no fear
Only six more tours till the end of the year
Thank god the package store sells more beer
It's nearly leaving time

And I know everything's gonna be OK
And I know it's harder when Daddy's away
But I carry ya'll with me in my heart every night and day
and I ain't really leaving, I'm just taking us all to a whole bunch of places

So do what you're told without a fuss, run the errands and load the bus
Don't forget to give a damn about us, when it comes to leaving time
Add three hours to the old time zone, faces on the Jetsons' telephone
Sing your songs and then bring it back home, when it comes to leaving time

12:01

It's 12:01, the rain and the wipers play a spooky song
As I cross the old mill bridge and Colbert County line,
to where the liquor laws are different
It's 12:01, the zombies are buying liquor cause it's monday morning
and I'm standing in the parking lot as they flip the sign
and I always see some good friends as I stand in line
then I head to Billy Ringo's and stay there till dawn
where the music's always playing, I'll take his banjo and strum along
Chase away the morning

2:45, and I know she's home sleeping as I open number five
It's this company I'm keeping that's keeping me alive
These friends of mine, a bunch of lost cases just marking time
If our lives supposed to start (?) guess in the end it's fine
Well maybe, maybe not ain't getting out alive

She told me she don't care if I come back there anymore
But if I do walk quietly as I open up the door
Crawl across the bedroom and pull back on the covers
In the end it's evident it's over
It's over

Better Off Without

I'm better off without her holding me down.
Driving me crazy when she's not around.
Better off without, pacing back and forth.
The taste of ocean water leaves me wanting more.
If salt is what she craved, why am I so bitter?
She's so sweet she rots my teeth, every time I kiss her.
And I'm better off with fifty ways of why do I still miss her? (?)
Misty-eyed and tossed about
thinking 'bout things I'm better off without
Thinking 'bout things I'm better off without

I'm better off without all she was about.
Her mood swings so violently it's tough to stand my ground.
It's so tough to stand around, pacing back and forth.
Lonely is awake alone at four in the morning.
Hope she's off to better things
Better off without me.
And I would only hold her down till she stopped the fighting.
And my skin that's underneath her nails, don't need it anymore.
It's too late to turn around.
Thinking bout things that I'm better off without

Better Than the Truth

Billy Ringo always said the fish won't bite
Can't get a break to save my life, can't get a break to save my life
Fell out the window with the glass bong in his hand
On the ground he did land, on his back with it smoking in his hand

Billy Ringo said he nearly crashed his car
On the winding roads not far from the house he used to live in
Said he felt them tires lifting off the pavement
But he pulled it in in time, and he made it home by five

And he said "I'm only looking for an acceptable level of bullshit I can live with,
but something's gotta give.
And I never could stand that sonofabitch there in the mirror
Staring back at me, staring back at me"

Billy Ringo liked to play his music loud
Said he never was allowed to become the things he said
He was destined for those nights drinking at the bar,
Talking about his shining star and it's impendent incline

He said "I'm only looking for an acceptable level of bullshit I can live with,
but something's gotta give"
And if I wrote it in a movie, it would all end differently and be better than the truth.
Better than the truth.

Last time I saw Billy, he was drinking at the bar
We went up and made some small talk, and he invited me over
And he started giving me all the paintings on the wall
Said he wanted me to have them, but he wouldn't say what for
And if I wrote it in a movie, it would end there on the ground
Like it says there in the first verse, that's how he would be found
I would spare the movie-goers all the bitter, sad details
and be better than the truth.
I would spare the movie-goers all the bitter, sad details
Better than the truth.


Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance

Heat lightning rumbles in the distance, the sun's setting west of the trees
The old oaks are gone and the house is falling down, but these ghosts are a comfort to me
Ghosts of my family and the times that's gone by, the changing of the old guard to new
Standing here in the day's final light, strong beside you

Strong beside you and this land that you've brought me to
Strong beside you with my arms holding you close
Strong beside you with these babies at our feet
the warm summer wind blows

The warm summer wind blows and the chimney's falling down
The grass ain't been cut on the road into town cuts through the woods
And the barn needs a roof, but there's things more important and I'm holding proof
I'm holding the proof and it's keeping me strong beneath this hollow, endless longing

This hollow, endless longing takes it's toll on us both and I guess that it's good that it's showing
Looking for comfort in the knowing
I'm looking for comfort in the knowing
Nothing takes place of the one's you left behind
The place you always held in this heart of mine
Holding on and on to the place you've always held
as heat lightning rumbles in the distance

And life creeps slowly by as I hold myself together
Somewhere between anguish and acceptance
Life creeps slowly by as I hold myself together
Somewhere between anguish and acceptance

[Penny Lane]

Life creeps slowly by as I hold myself together
Somewhere between anguish and acceptance

Love this..

[mwh]

Super excited about this of course, but one question: how can lightning rumble?

[GuitarManUpstairs]

Super excited about this of course, but one question: how can lightning rumble?

well since thunder is the sound made by a lightning strike i guess it would be correct however heat lightning only flashes...so no rumble...i believe Parrerson said at a recent solo shos that his sister has already called him out about this inconsistancy...

[Steve French]

How can lightning "Rumble"? cos lightning is visual. Thunder rumbles. Just saying.

[Zip City]

How can lightning "Rumble"? cos lightning is visual. Thunder rumbles. Just saying.

But "Heat Thunder Rumbles" sounds like an NBA finals headline