Get all 18 Nick Swan releases available on Bandcamp.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of 9 from the 90s, Square One: An Acoustic Tribute to Tom Petty, Road Songs, Classic Rock Jam Tracks, The Bottom EP, DIG, "Gypsy Blues" A Tribute to Rainer Ptacek and Chris Whitley, Bedside Blues, and 10 more.
Excludes subscriber-only releases.
1. |
Loaded Gun
03:32
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Drivin down the road I'm ridin
A thousand pounds of steel
Got a woman behind me baby
She knows how to feel
She got 99 pounds of natural-born goodness
99 pounds of soul
She don't need no doctor, just rock and roll
With a rebel yell I'm ridin
Straight out of hell
Nothin left but dust behind me
Nothin left to sell
With a rebel yell I'm ridin
Straight in the sun
Nothin but the road I'm drivin
Livin on the run
Yeah I'm a loaded gun
90 days in prison, 30 days in the hole
I got stone cold fever, baby
Gettin outa control
Drinkin New Castle Brown
It'll sure smack ya down
Now I drink black coffee
To keep me off the ground
Chorus
Solo
Chorus
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2. |
Another Also-Ran
03:52
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I've been going nowhere fast
All my plans don't seem to last
Stuck here living in the past
Like my mind's wrapped in a cast
What are you doing with yourself?
Watching the world go by
When you can't put one foot in front of the other
What are you doing with yourself?
Gotta get it right this time if you don't wanna be just another also-ran
Time and time and time again
I get lost before I win
Watching days begin and end
Wondering where the time all went
What are you doing with yourself?
Watching the world go by
When you can't put one foot in front of the other
What are you doing with yourself?
Gotta get it right this time if you don't wanna be just another also-ran
Don't wanna be just another also...
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3. |
On a Mountain
04:27
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From the top of my head
I'm dreamin
Wish I could wake up instead
I'm sleeping
I want to spread my wings
I want to spread my wings
And fly
From the top of my lungs
I'm screamin
Instead of speaking in tongues
I'm bleeding
I want to spread my wings
I want to spread my wings
On a mountain high
I will touch the sky
On a mountain
I will fly
Solo
I want to spread my wings
I want to spread my wings
On a mountain high
I will touch the sky
On a mountain
I will fly
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4. |
Future Blues
06:10
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Can't tell my future
Can't tell my past
Seems like every minute
Gonna be my last, well
Can't tell my future
And I can't tell my past
Well it seems like every minute
Sure gonna be my last
Minutes seem like hours
Hours seem like days
Wonder when some men gonna
Change their ways
Minutes seem like hours
And hours seem like days
Wonder when some men gonna
Change their evil ways
Solo
Well some people tell me
Worried blues ain't bad
It's the worst old feelin
I most ever had
Some people tell me
Those old worried blues...
Ain't too bad
Well it's the worst old feelin
That I almost ever had
Cause I'm worried...
About the future... (x4)
Gotta fix the future
Can't help the past
Gotta work together
So this world can last
Gotta fix the future
We can't help the past
Gotta live together
So this world can last
Whoa oh, gotta fix the future...
Solo
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5. |
Space Blues
05:27
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I'm floating through space
And there's no one else around
I'm floating through space
And there's no one else around
And I don't know
If I'll ever touch the ground
Livin on the moon
Haven't seen the sun for days
Livin on the moon
Haven't seen the sun for days
Can't find no one
To change my lonesome ways
Solo
Feel like I could fall
Down a deep, dark black hole
Feel like I could fall
Down a deep, dark black hole
No one would find me
No one would care at all
Outro
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6. |
VCR
04:32
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Drivin 'round in my car
Wherever I go I won't get far
Can it take me back to where you are?
Rewind the tape in my VCR
I gotta take it back...
Take it back...
One more drink at the local bar
Tryin to forget who you are
What was a memory is now a scar
I left my tape in your VCR
I gotta take it back...
Gotta take it back...
Solo
I was a kid and you were a star
But Hollywood would've been too far
Like a distant dream from where you are
Left on a tape in my VCR
I gotta take it back...
Gotta take it back...
Solo/Outro
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7. |
SOS
05:31
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Oh Lord I must be crazy
I quit my job and forgot to not get lazy
The past few years have sure been hazy
I don't feel too far from pushin up a daisy
Well I followed my dreams down
To the end of the road
But I all I found was an empty pot of gold
SOS... I've been livin in distress
It's too hard tryin to make a dollar outa 15 cents
I don't know when my life turned into such a mess
Can you hear me now?
I've been callin SOS
Lord knows I tried my heart out
I played every smoky bar across the new South
I've gone too far now there's no way out
I'll be walkin this road til it gets to dark in a shadow of a doubt
And I'll try to make my way
Goin down a lost highway
When I get there, I got nothin left to say
Chorus
Feel like I could drown in my own fear
Well I might need wings to get me outa here
But the water's high, up to the brim
Yeah I guess it's time for me to sink or swim
Solo
And I'll try to make my way
Into the beauty way
When I get there, this is all I'll have to say
Chorus
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8. |
Atlantic City
06:27
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Well they blew up the chicken man in Philly last night
Now they blew up his house too
Down on the boardwalk they're getting ready for a fight
Gonna see what them racket boys can do
Now there's trouble busting in from outta state
And the D.A. can't get no relief
Gonna be a rumble out on the promenade
And the gambling commission is hanging on by the skin of its teeth
Everything dies baby that's a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City
Well I got a job and tried to put my money away
But I got debts that no honest man can pay
So I drew what I had from the Central Trust
And I bought us two tickets on that full city bus
Chorus
Solo
Now I've been looking for a job but it's hard to find
Down here it's just winners and losers and don't get caught on the wrong side of that line
Pretty tired of coming out on this losing end
So last night I met this guy, gonna do a little favor for him
Chorus
Well I believe in the love that she gave me
I believe in the faith that can save me
I believe and I hope and I pray
That someday it can raise me
Above these Badlands, you gotta live it every day
Let the broken heart stand as the price you gotta pay
Keep pushin til it's understood
And these Badlands start treatin us good
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9. |
Smokestack Lightnin'
06:24
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Whoa oh, smokestack lightnin'
Shine on, just like gold
Why don't ya hear me cryin'?
Whoo hoo
Whoo hoo
Whoa oh, tell me, baby
Where did you stay last night?
Why don't ya hear me cryin'?
Whoo hoo
Whoo hoo
Well there's two, two trains runnin
And no one goes my way
Well the one stops at midnight, baby
The other just 'fore day, other just 'fore day
Whoa-oh, stop that train
Let me, let me go for a ride
Why don't ya hear me cryin'?
Whoo hoo
Whoo hoo
Well fare, fare thee well babe
Well you'll Never see me no more
Why don't ya hear me cryin'?
Why don't ya hear me cryin'?
Why don't ya hear me cryin'?
Why don't ya hear me cryin'?
Whoo hoo
Whoo hoo
Whoo
Whoa-oh
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10. |
Victory
07:58
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Is nothin left but death?
After we're born, we're dyin
What if we lived to give?
Nothin to lose, and nothin more to win
So don't just stand there
Before the wrong gets taken for the right
I'm telling you tonight
That this is the feast of the victory of our God
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Yeah this is the feast of the victory of our God
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
So what's in store - more war?
The drum's too loud to ignore
Only love can trump hate
We got to choose before it gets too late
So don't just stand there
Before the wrong gets taken for the right
I'm telling you tonight
That this is the feast of the victory of our God
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Yeah this is the feast of the victory of our God
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Solo
Oooooooooh...
Before the wrong gets taken for the right
I'm telling you tonight
That this is the feast of the victory of our God
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Yeah this is the feast of the victory of our God
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
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11. |
Suicide Dive
05:13
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I started at the bottom
Got lost in the abyss
Now I'm right back where I started
But I know that I'll be missed
Some people give up tryin
And some die deep inside
But I just go on living
When part of me has died
I hope I can survive...
This suicide dive
I wish that I could fly away from here
Where all this pain is gone
I don't wanna have to die to be reborn
But I know my road is long
I hope I can survive
This suicide dive
I'm steppin off the ledge now
Into the wind
I know this could be wrong
But something's gotta give
I'm moving to the light now
Into the sun
There's no more turning back
And nowhere left to run
I'm flying over clouds now
Above the sea
There's something in the air there waiting for me
I've said all my goodbyes now
Nothing left to say
Except for all the things I never got to say
Chorus
Solo
Chorus
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Nick Swan Knoxville, Tennessee
Tennessee Troubadour. Playing a mix of America's best roots music, from blues & folk to classic rock & 90s grunge.
Nick Swan recommends:
Knoxville Tells
by Todd Steed and The Suns Of Phere
Tells it like it is about K-town
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Excellent album from the late maestro of the National guitar, Rainer Ptacek.
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Heart Shaped Shadow
by John Paul Keith
Great set of tunes from one of Memphis' current finest, John Paul Keith. Fav is "901 Number."
go to albumIf you like Sink Or Swim, you may also like:
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The Convincer (20th Anniversary Edition)
by Nick Lowe
Released in 2001, “The Convincer” is a gentle gem in the Nick Lowe catalog; an anniversary edition provides opportunity for rediscovery.
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The Ohio songwriter navigates gender, queerness, class, and privilege through a powerful mix of country rock, folk ballads, and bluegrass.
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