We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

railroad brotherhood

from where you were young by Alec Betterley

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 USD

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    this is the physical cd of "where you were young" with beautiful artwork by gregory hedderman and a hand-numbered lyric sheet tucked inside.

    Includes unlimited streaming of where you were young via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD

     

lyrics

terre haute, indiana
national road and the dixie bee highway
your elegy sin city, try to pray
or be weak and coaxed away
but not me, cause brothers i'll win it someday

whisper to sleep while in my mind what
burst and burned like flames upon the hill
the five and dime moonside at your table
bathe in your morning water fossil galaxy fables
binoculars he hide, my hands flirt with the ties
before you rise they have a place for you to lie

front porch breath be held inside and silence
dreaming the mermaid orange sun
they call it an act of god when the morning comes
and another man is done
like a devilfish pulls us down to the bottomless depths
through the windowpanes, the planks and bricks and beds

boyhood sidekicks waited watched beneath a
locomotive prairie-bound
thirteen lost peace washed in piles
hushed in a strangled city found
your reaching light low bridges where the children land
the hands all clasped and slow the rocks and waves disband

sundown dead and weary blinds all closed
and i leave everything to you
i cradled dark the skies sweet tricks of wise
and slowly crept to rise
in tarnished vessels sail the weak ones from the shade
abandoned wings to sprawling brotherhood parade

young girl speaks to brother through the walls
and holds her breath and shielded face
then takes the veil off, lying gently as they all evaporate
a dreamless shift into a place that they run from
a soothing serenade of what she has become

gaze upon sleepy city
wondering, old friend, what's goin' down?
timothy's last seconds, ice cream,
lethal injection, quiet sounds
families closed their eyes and watched it go away
beyond the blue i took the tears down from the gray

in the motel 6 jesus america
serial killers in ethereal cellars pray
stars alive cutting the dustbowl west
crystal babies born every day
lay down low and grasp the wishes to the grave
keep feet planted, look, and listen, son, behave or

if i walked you from the flames,
well you know that you could just be coaxed back in
in castles cradled form with your own hands
what's waking wild beneath the skin
the railroad brotherhood, the where it all began
from indiana, to the world, across the land

credits

from where you were young, released April 1, 2012

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Alec Betterley image

Alec Betterley New York

Alec Betterley is an upstate NY-based songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and music therapist. He was a founding member of the groups My Friend Other & Toys and Tiny Instruments, and supports other artists on keys when he can find the time amidst a busy schedule of corralling three youngsters. ... more

contact / help

Contact Alec Betterley

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Alec Betterley, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Fabiana Palladino stops by to talk about her mesmeric debut LP.
listen now