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All the Livelong Day EP

by Eli Conley and Hip for Squares

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1.
Pinocchio 03:22
Pinocchio I am not a real man, I'll tell you why It's not the reason you are thinking of Lean in close, I'll share with you a secret No one is a real man at all Chorus: Pinocchio, you are a boy it doesn't take no fairy blue much less a therapist, three doctors and a knife to cut your flesh and make you real you are as real as dreams come true I'm tired of tracing one straight line back through our lives Let's crack up this geode they call boy and girl to see what pretty stones that it elides Kinda like this geode there is more to us than ever possibly could meet the eye I think I've found a way to make it through I'll let you in, I've got a tip or two we get together, organize, it's true We've got a lot of work to do Chorus I am not particularly interested in being illegible for its own sake I have been illegible to most everyone Relative to that, manhood is cake It feels much better to be seen each day sometimes it's hard to keep the wolves at bay who say forget who you were yesterday, come out with only boys to play Chorus I am not a real man, I'll tell you why It's not the reason you are thinking of Lean in close, I'll share with you a secret No one is a real man at all
2.
We Will Rise 03:22
We Will Rise It’s the day of giving thanks Empire’s fallen by the banks No one’s clothes are in the road Every person has a home Land’s not something you can own Chorus: Singing yes I will fight this year, I’ll fight Till this song is true, till we all can live our lives With bread to eat and no one scraping by We will rise (organize) Yellow, white red black and brown It took all of us to tear it down White folks gave that evil lie That we were better, you and I We want a wholly different pie So we tore those prisons to the ground We freed ‘em all, make a joyful sound! Full reparations were paid out On forty acres gardens sprout Chorus We give care to all who have survived Hurt’s not something you must hide And when someone causes harm We all surround them in our arms Like a human hope alarm Chorus
3.
You’re lovelier than April, you’re handsomer than May You’re hungry as an apple core, sing all the livelong day Sing all the livelong day I wished I was a miner down underneath the ground Cause it’s there my Adam Carter lies, can’t hear my lonesome sound No more high lonesome sound I wished I was a lily growing out in yonder field Where Ada grows her sorghum and her beans throughout the year Cause a lily in amongst the field’s like a lady at the dance And I’ve never been no lady but perhaps I’ll get my chance I swear I’ll get my chance Chorus: Cause it’s hard hard hard, but it’s true To find your peace of mind and stay with those who raised you Mama and her cornbread hands, Papa and his moods If we awake before the dawn there can’t be no bad news Lord, please god no bad news I’ll take you to the river bank, I’ll bring you down to swim I’ll show you where the cattle cross when drought’s on It’s there I sat with Billy and we drank up to our fill Then tumbled down the riverbank and it’s there we had our will I think of it fondly still Your beauty is beyond compare, I know that now for sure You are the apple of my eye, the micah in the dirt But I am in no dirt, poor boy. This is my home, you see What are you calling this, my home, here in east Tennessee? Here in east Tennessee? Chorus: Well it’s hard hard hard, but it’s true To find your peace of mind and stay with those who raised you Mama and her cornbread hands, Papa and his moods They’re the ones who raised me and the ones who lift my blues Lord, please don’t make me choose Michael, Oh, I cannot stay, I need to travel, see To roam about the mountains, to glimpse the eastern sea A freight could be our marriage bed, a train our bridal home If you say with me you’ll roam, please say with me you’ll roam Oh Andy, do not ask me such, you know it cannot be My hand can go to nary a man here in east Tennessee My ma and pa, they need me so, but more than that you know I’d rather stay alone, my love than wear your band of gold Than wear your yoke of gold Chorus: Well it’s hard hard hard, but it’s true To find your peace of mind and stay with those who raised you Mama and her cornbread hands, Papa and his moods And when I miss you in the night I’ll hum this lonesome tune I’ll hum this lonesome tune You’re lovelier than April, you’re handsomer than May You’re hungry as an apple core, sing all the livelong day Sing all the livelong day
4.
Dry As Sin 03:53
Dry As Sin They’re building prisons in Appalachia, where my family comes from To keep poor brown folks from the city, far away from their homes And the only other job you can find Is in the dregs of the old coal mine Chorus: They’re pushing coal plants in Virginia again Right next to prisons caging thousands of Black and brown men And my poor white family is guarding them As the coal dust coats everyone’s lungs, dry as sin Well Senator Byrd put his stock in a lie Coal will be clean when donkeys do fly Now mountains that stretched from the creek to the clouds Are craters of dirt, like wide gaping mouths When the rain rolls off the bare mountain tops The creeks turn to sludge and the fish flop on the moss Chorus We are never too far from the valley of death But these holes in the hills bring us all closer yet Name each white man a cop, name each brown man a thief And you’ve paved every back roads with certainmost grief When the rain rolls off the bare mountain tops The creeks turn to sludge and the fish flop on the moss Chorus Repeat Verse 1
5.
Send Out Your Sentries I’ve got the blues and they are calling Calling me down this well I see the leaves, but they ain’t falling The northern California fall stays green so well So send out your sentries and surround me Prodigals, dogs and thieves are the ones who ground me I have been all of these And now I’m the princess Send out your sentries I watch my mother read my letters And hold them ever closer to her heart Believing I will grow more distant With every step I take toward my art So send out your sentries and surround me Prodigals, dogs and thieves are the ones who ground me I have been all of these And now I’m the princess Send out your sentries Oh pretty dress, you are my curtain I tacked you there to block the eastern sky I never quite could say I loved them And now I think I know the reason why So send out your sentries and surround me Prodigals, dogs and thieves are the ones who ground me I have been all of these And now I’m the princess James Baldwin told the truth When he said that white kids lose our youth When we realize it’s all been lies Don’t know why that takes us by surprise So as you pack your bags choose wisely Which parts you take and which you leave behind Cause what you leave becomes your shadow And what you take becomes your conscious mind So send out your sentries and surround me Prodigals, dogs and thieves are the ones who ground me I have been all of these And now I’m the princess

credits

released May 7, 2011

Lead vocals & guitar – Eli Conley
Harmony vocals, sticks – Talia Cooper
Standup bass, harmony vocals, snare – Maia “Papaya” Wiitala
Percussion on “Pinocchio” – Justin Vanegas

All songs written by Eli Conley
Produced by Eli Conley & Justin Vanegas
Engineered by Justin Vanegas
Mastered by Justin Vanegas & Tom Evans
Photos by Tessa Strauss
Designed by DirtyHippieFeet

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Eli Conley Sacramento, California

​Eli Conley is an indie folk singer-songwriter and activist based in Sacramento, CA. He makes music for queer and trans folks, justice seekers, and anyone who doesn’t fit easily in a box. Eli's voice is tender and heartfelt, with melodies and that can leave you feeling teary-eyed yet hopeful. As a gay trans man from the South, his songs tell stories that aren’t always reflected in roots music. ... more

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