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One Lover Leaves

by Mike O'Dowd

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1.
Game Of Love 03:20
In pain, the sidewalk screams All your lovers shattered dreams That vanished on these streets With every strangers haze you’d meet But I won’t end up like them When the game of love begins And I know there’s an army of men Haunting your every step Praying that you will fall Through the cracks in the pavement But I won’t end up like them When the game of love begins And all your lovers sing the same song And now I’m singing, singing along I’m singing along And you’ve been down this road before But I won’t walk it anymore It’s paved with every gift I gave To see the cards close to your heart When sadness falls on every suit Love’s a game you play to lose And all your lovers just sing the same song And now I’m singing, singing along, I’m singing along
2.
In the early morning rain With a gun in my hand I shot my woman down And I knew It was wrong But there was no turning back So I packed my bags and fled her town After a mile or so The wrong way down a dead end road They cornered me with nowhere left to go So I got out of my car And as they yelled for the gun I took aim and shot down everyone Then like a flash I was hit by the hand of God That threw me off my feet into the dirt And as the night grew dim Angels flew on dark wings And I saw my body bathed in sin I saw my body bathed in sin And there I stood alone And all I knew was gone With every thought held only By the lonely light of sin Sometimes love lives in the face of hate On different sides of the same spinning coin Sometimes it lands face up in your hand Sometimes it's face down in the dirt Now in this room I relive every scene Played out in front of me like a dream And I can’t talk But what would I say If I could find the words to speak anyway In the early morning rain With a gun in my hand I shot my woman down I shot my woman down
3.
Who am I to say Where she’s living now When all is said and done She’s better off somehow How was I to know It was written in the cards When seasons pass and go Nothing ever lasts And who is she to say I guided her to him If she can’t leave the ground I’m not the one who clipped her wings And how was she to know I’d only break her heart When she was walking wounded I only crossed her path Now her bells of longing ring But I’m not around to hear them sing The past slept at our window In the shadows like a thief Like a phantom, like a killer But we never heard it speak I just woke to see her crying Then lay dreaming of the start When she was walking wounded I only crossed her path
4.
Moonlight on your garden of thorns Has torn the stranger's clothes at your door Like distant trains that tear their way Through the night and drift away And men mad with envy circle me But I hide her where they can't see Their games are nothing new to me They can't take what they can't see Like moonlight on your garden of thorns Words like bullets shot through my lips And years of rage flowed through my veins As she stood naked near the window pane And the morning light looked in Now the city sings in hostile hymns Through your window pouring in As countless other courting men Call from your gate again Like moonlight on your garden of thorns And she'll wake to see those widows weep For absent lovers swept off their feet Now I guard your garden of thorns Another night she's alone at dawn Like distant trains that tear their way Through the night and drift away Like moonlight on your garden of thorns
5.
They walked past a work of art dying on the street And every breath it drew passed under their feet Their marriage was mirror, a mirror of defeat As they walked past a work of art dying on the street Now strangers on a path of glass, bitter in retreat Where every step echoes low, over ice and falling sleet How did they grow so out of touch and so incomplete And walk past a work of art dying on the street Now the dust has settled, nothing’s beyond belief The heart I stole was restless, the heart she left was weak Now I won’t stop searching and I vow to never sleep Or walk past a work of art dying on the street
6.
She came to me on bended knee A stolen rose between her teeth One lover leaves, another arrives Women like flowers can wither and die Always climbing the stairway that leads to her door Bearing the same gifts I gave once before One lover leaves when a love affair ends Women like flowers can die from within Women like flowers can wither and die And her captive rose with it's head down low Seems to say she'll never bloom again, but she’ll bloom again Now all is quiet and silence returns And her hallway is darkened When a knock finds her door One lover leaves, another arrives Women like flowers can wither and die
7.
Her body's soft and faithful But her heart can never rest Every night it tries escaping Never sleeping in her chest Painting light across her lilies Swimming weightless in her dress When all the world is sleeping Her heart can never rest Now morning birds are waking To venture from their nests Leaving all they've known forsaken And all she can't forget Painting light across her lilies Swimming weightless in her dress When all the world is sleeping Her heart can never rest Now her lilies lay on display And wonder who'll be next to walk the garden path Where her bending branches rest Painting light across her lilies Swimming weightless in her dress When all the world is sleeping Her heart can never rest
8.
Only wild swans dance upon Her mirrored lake at night When autumn’s crown is thrown to the ground And held on her lake of fire And the distant chords of memory call With words like ribbons of light that shine through northern clouds When autumn leaves fall Then for her I claim all winter days Will end when spring begins But she can only see a sea of naked trees When autumn leaves start to fall And the distant chords of memory call With words like ribbons of light that shine through northern clouds When autumn leaves fall So please don’t mourn Seasons marching on They were born to love you from afar Like wild swans, they're never truly gone They've only flown south with me And the distant chords of memory call With words like ribbons of light that shine through northern clouds When autumn leaves fall When wild swans on your lake are gone and autumn leaves fall
9.
Mona Lisa 05:49
Mona Lisa bound in chains Begs for all she sent away And longs for all she may never see Ringing silver bells of chastity From her window now, she’ll wave her hand And wave again at my command As beauty waits behind the gate To steal the bells that keep her safe And parading princes, one by one Praise the ground she walks upon They hope and they pray to have their way But Mona Lisa abstains Like ancient kings condemned to follow Distant queens through halls of sorrow Knowing soon their gaze will stray To Mona Lisa in chains But when courtesans wave the keys To their silver belts of chastity I’ll trade the man I hoped to be For gifts that don’t belong to me As Mona Lisa bound in chains waits for all she sent away Then all that’s hidden behind her smile Is thrown at those who pass her by With a searching gaze that seems to say ‘I was cast aside and locked away’ But hardened hearts are hardened by The past that lives for all that’s died When Mona Lisa bound in chains breaks from all she sent away

credits

released September 29, 2023

Musicians: Mike O’Dowd, Jesse Williams, Alex O’Gorman, Mike Hayden, Richard Andrew, Zoe Barry, Harry Ward, Craig Mattingley, Phil McLeod, Andy Pap, Brett Wolfenden and Jon Graboff

Recorded by:
Richard Andrew at Pharmacy Studios, Melbourne
Alex O’Gorman at Purple Wayne Studios, Melbourne
Jesse Williams at his home studio in Anglesea
Additional overdubs by Burke Reid at The Grove Studios, Sydney

Mixed by: Burke Reid
Mastered by: Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound, NJ
Cover Painting by: Paul Ryan
Photo By: Michaela Meadow
Album layout and design by: Luke Player
All songs written and arranged by: Mike O’Dowd

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Mike O'Dowd Melbourne, Australia

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