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.

Just Listen

by Bob Moore

supported by
Mary Lewis Sheehan
Mary Lewis Sheehan thumbnail
/

  • Streaming + Download

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

      $2 USD  or more

     

about

This is a tune written following a dream I had (I think it was this year). I wrote the words down and added the music later. For some reason, I dreamt I met a fellow in an abandoned town that looked like Jimmy Buffet. But the man wasn't speaking any words, really. Anytime he opened his mouth, a song came out like he was a human jukebox. If he closed his mouth and then it opened again, it would be a different song. It was baffling, startling, and the mood of the town was an old ghost town. Why he was there by himself, I didn't have a clue.

lyrics

Just Listen

I dreamt I was lost in a western town
with a train track running through its center.
I came in from the desert, I was wayward bound
when a sign on the road read enter.

I saw a man standing by the railroad yard,
he was big and he looked like I knew him.
He wasn't waiting for a train, he wasn't waiting for a car,
I could tell, by the nothing, he was doing.

I stepped a little closer I said you look a lot
like a singer by the name of Jimmy.
He said I've been known by a hundred names,
I just sing the songs that are in me.

And then like a radio or record machine,
his body started glowing and a shaking
and a song flowed out of his open pours
and he smiled at the music it was making.

The tune was a ballad of a love gone wrong.
I couldn't find a note it was missing.
I asked if he could tell me the name of the song.
All he said was son, just listen
just listen.

He stood with a smile and his eyeballs beamed
and a song oozed from his senses.
And the sound streamed into my consciousness
and it left my soul defenseless.

His body was humming like a one-man band,
a dog howled and the snakes were hissing.
I told the strange man and I didn't understand.
All he said was son, just listen.
just listen.

And then I said, when do you fall asleep.
He said, I don't I pull an all-nighter.
I said, how do your eyes light up like that?
All he said was son, I'm a writer.

His body was humming like a one-man band.
He smiled again, and his eyes glistened.
I asked, "Does that song come from out of the ground?"
All he said was son, just listen.
just listen.

I left the man standing by the railroad yard,
starting thinking 'bout the gift he was giving.
And if you hear me singing 'bout a love gone wrong,
All I can say is son, just listen,
just listen
just listen
just listen

credits

released December 29, 2023
Harmonica - Wayne Benham
Banjo, guitar, vocals, - Bob Moore

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Bob Moore image

Bob Moore East Kingston, New Hampshire

Bob Moore has been writing songs since the late 1980's. His guitar playing is influenced by finger-style players such as Ed Gerhard, Leo Kottke, Adrian Legg, Scott Ouellette, and Michael Hedges. His songwriting is influenced by many folk and blues artists such as John Prine, Loudon Wainwright III, David Olney and Mary Gauthier. "Boundaries" is from the album "A Place to Start". ... more

contact / help

Contact Bob Moore

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like Bob Moore, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featured guests are the golden-voiced Baby Rose and psyche soulsters Brainstory.
listen now