Get all 6 The Cheeky Few releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Loving Arms, Shrimp for a Dollar, Paint this House, Pretty Derivatives (EP), Christmas at Graceland (single), and Sure to Drown & 60 Miles Gone Singles.
1. |
Paint this House
03:56
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I’m gonna paint this house from the inside out I can’t think of a better day
No base coat or primer, she’s a one-timer
It’s my mark and it’s gonna stay
If the landlord hates he can just repaint it
Wash my intentions away
But I’ll paint this house from the inside out ain’t no better time than today
CHORUS
Oh I might not be alright
No I might not be alright
Said I might, not be alright
No I might not be alright
I’m gonna scrub the floor from the door to door
Make it shine till I see my mug
All these fumes I’m breathin’ go me seein
Just how far into the grave I am dug
I just won’t be soiled my best plans unfoiled
I’ve got a mop and a sponge and a broom
All the progress I make, its just one big mistake
Cause there’s dust pilin' in the other room
CHORUS
You can’t call this work it just makes me hurt
And that ain’t a livin wage
For thirty-nine hours, you scream and scour
And my contracts just an empty page
You won’t insure me for all my loyalty
I’ve learned not to ask for relief
My girl's got the flu and what can I do
Cause the doctor can’t get paid on my grief
CHORUS
Don’tcha put me to bed for the thoughts in my head
I ain’t a youngin, I’m well past my youth
As I babble and spit if you sift through it
You may find yourself a grain of the truth
Don’t cha try to shush me don’t you dare unhook me
Till I’ve blathered through my philosophy
If you’re a sweet potater or an alligator
Well, you might just alright with me.
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2. |
Coyote
03:14
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CHORUS
When you see me on your street, know damn well I ain’t no dog
I’m the dusty mongrel coyote and my yappin is my song
Try and run me off if you don’t want me around
I’ll just double back to hide my tracks and head on into town
I’ll just double back to hide my tracks and head on into town
My laughter filled the prairies fore I knew my Aztec name
I colonized the Rockies when them covered wagons came.
If the chickens go a missing it’s me they always blame
Be it bugs or berries fish or frogs to me it tastes the same
to me it tastes the same
So you brought civ’lization but you knew I’d be there too
When I scamper down your sidewalk buddy I ain’t passin through
My eyes flash green in headlights and the confidence shines true
I ran with Montezuma sure's hell I ain’t scared of you
You can poison, trap or trick me but my population climbs
While I bide my life in eons you’re on borrowed time
And while you’re suffocating all us wildi ones will survive
Soon the only sound I’ll hear will be the wailing of my tribe
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3. |
Shoulder my Burden
03:53
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There’s a haze in the bar, even though that I swore
That they don't let you smoke in these dives anymore
If you’ve been here before you probably seen me
It’s the last honest place God allows me to be
I glance the smudged mirror that lines the back wall
your lips part to speak and I pray that you’ll stall
There’s a glimmer a chance a possibility
While we both may be single I doubt either is free
I could buy you a drink you could ask me my name
We can pretend we live on a world without shame
Though we promise and try it won’t end up fine
But I can’t shoulder your burden cause I can’t carry mine
But I can’t shoulder your burden cause I can’t carry mine
The make up you wear well its meant for the stage
And the lines on your face they just don’t match your age
All that liquor you drink it won’t quell your thirst
While you try to remember who hurt who first
I used to know better I can honestly say
I just let Coors and Miller slowly wash me away
When I'm thrown out at last call I don't feel no pain
And I’m here in the morning when they open again
I may hit rock bottom but it won’t be tonight
And you’ll surely waiver tween wrong and the right
We ain’t gonna dance, I won’t mention my name
If you’ll play it straight sister I’ll do the same
In the light of tomorrow, we’ll hold our heads high
I can’t shoulder your burden cause I can’t carry mine
I can’t shoulder your burden cause I can’t carry mine
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4. |
Old Man's Farm
03:53
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They call this place a farm but no one does no growin
We’re just markin time on ancient crimes and my age lines keep on showin
They keep us old men working for the deeds our young selves done
How can I serve three lifetimes if only got the one?
I came in vile and virile a punk without remorse
Pitchin dimes and crackin wise talked shit till I went horse
I spat and smoked and fantasized but I ain’t in the throws
I'm a threat to society with low testosterone
CHORUS
I’m as guilty as hell for sure I done some harm
My mind is slowly fading like the tattoo on my arm
The governor will reject me despite my rugged charm
But it’s a bitch to realize some day my guts will fertilize this god damn prison farm
Sun shines through my window and shoots between the bars
For ten thousand days in ten thousand ways I learned to count the hours
How’d I be if I were free? Well I got a hunch
That it be sweet to sit and eat what I choose for lunch
CHORUS
Word comes down the old mainline that someone’s going home
He’s not walkin out he done checked out and never got parole
We’re left to build the casket, it’s us who digs the grave
The preacher’s in on a GTA but he swears his soul's been saved.
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5. |
My Vacation
04:17
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Keep the simple syrup flowin keep the mai tais watered down
Keep the barstools filled with pretty girls old men will flock around
Something rotten neath my fingernails getting harder to ignore
I could steal a shot of liquor but my feet will still feel sore
Just do it for one season then you’ll get right back on track
At least that’s what I told myself eight or nine years back
There’s shrimp for a dollar and it’s always Saturday night
My smiles growing weary try as I might
Your so lucky to live here, you’ll invariably shout
But this ain’t my vacation and I’d rather clock out
Check chlorine stack deck chairs trim the hedges clear
Let the slurs and sleights drift away and pretend not to hear
They’re guests here in your country but you know they’ll never learn
Strong tequila a stronger dollar are the chiefs of their concern
They say you need the tourists and the influx that they bring
They're back here every weekend and it don't change a thing
The buffet never closes, we can still shine your shoes
You treat us like doormats, we think your all fools
You’re occasions are special so you bitch and you moan
This ain’t my vacation, I just want to go home.
Swap towels and scrub toilets drain the lukewarm beers
She bets the way you live at home ain’t like how you done here.
Husbands leer a little long half lustful and all cruel
Like she’ll lie down in the bed she made while your kids are at the pool
And she’ll never have a holiday if she wants to feed her son
Just a mother in an envelope with every dollar won.
We are here at your service, so demand what you want
She thinks of her hometown and all she’s forgot
There’s mints on the pillows and the covers turned down
This ain’t our vacation, why are we still around?
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6. |
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He crossed the Atlantic with pride on his breath
Looking for free land he don’t wanna pay rent
The trees and expanses his empire awaits
He started tearing it down on that very first day
He rarely made friends among local faces
Had to cheat and connive to finagle good graces
His God and his guns, his germs make you dizzy
He can kill you with bullets, he can kill you with whiskey
CHORUS
Let’s say adios to the pale faced old cowboy
He’s been in the saddle forever it seems
We’ll say adios to the pale faced old cowboy
For most it’s a nightmare while he lives out his dreams
The soil it was hard and his crops had demands
So he filled up his fields with black and brown hands
In the hist’ry of Egypt he read to the page
Where you can’t build no pyr’mids with a minimum wage
All the while thinkin he’s an enlightened soul
From his roomy back porch watch his property toil
He writes declarations and bills of his rights
While freely exchanging in African lives
CHORUS
The land he felt promised soon became crowded
With new foreign-born paupers his prospects were clouded
So he pushed o’er mountains his sights on the west
To start theivin and stealin destiny manifest
Shawnee or Choctaw, Comanche or Crow
He won’t leave you in peace wherever you go
He can’t tell the difference between Piute or Sioux
He’ll give you rugs, take your children steal the buffalo too
CHORUS
Now he drills in the ground and he smokes up the sky
And the water is rusty in the wells that ain’t dry
Heat waves get long and the winters get shorter
He’ll ship his kids off to Mars when this world is over
After all of these years of victory and glory
He honestly thinks he’s the victim of the story
To give up the reins he won’t volunteer
So rip em away and sing it out clear
CHORUS
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7. |
Cousins' Cousins
05:42
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On an easy summer morning gravel grinds as they pull up
There’s a duster and a Datsun, a Durango pick up truck
It’s too late to say you’re busy or to pawn em on your aunt
Make a pallet in the spare room between them potted plants
Flood comes through the doorway spills across the room
Cries and laughs and elbows now who belongs to whom
They brought nothing but their appetites for something from the fridge
Shoulda closed the curtains coulda changed the locks but this is what family is
CHORUS
They’re your cousins' cousins so there’s nothing left to say
They ain’t no strong relations but they’re coming anyway
So tell em that you love em no matter when they call
Cause the heart is big enough for one and all
The heart is big enough for one and all.
They’ll ask if you found religion and they’ll tell you how to vote
They got ideas on raising kids and expect that you’ll take note
Clankin plates too early telling jokes till way too late
Don’t matter how you ask there ain’t no departure date
CHORUS
Their dusty from their travels and they speak in distant tongues
Crossed seas and swamps and deserts to get from whence the come
There’s one rule of livin that we all must understand
We gotta treat em like our cousins when they reach out their hands
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8. |
Sad Song
03:10
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I been on these streets since before you were born
Before trust funds like you ever got this far north
When the windows were shuttered and the good times were short
but we were left alone on the skids
The cash in your pocket just gotta be spent
you’re an urban pioneer or whatever that meant
But nobody thanked me when I lowered the rent
Now I’m choking on puppies and kids
Don’t you dare write me a sad song
You know that treacle just won’t do
Though I ain’t been dancin’ in so long
I ain’t no different from you
There’s no conversation so you may never know
If I’m a victim of the circumstance however that goes
But they’re closing down my favorite SROs
And I got all these boxes to haul
Where the breathin is shallow and the track marks are deep
Now an eight dollar coffee is what you call cheap
And where exactly would you like me to sleep
Or would you rather I not wake up at all
Don’t you dare write me a sad song
You know that treacle just won’t do
Though I ain’t been dancin’ in so long
I ain’t no different from you
And by the grace of God go you...
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9. |
I-5 South
03:31
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Darling dozes against the window, bare feet upon the dash
Here’s hopin that she has sweet dreams of me
Truckstop jerky and grit coffee have used up all our cash
But we’re all gassed up so for now the livin’s free
Well its I-5 South at twilight but the kids could not care less
Bout the beauty Californee can provide
They seem intent on yellin bout which shooting guard it best
The older’s voice has deepened and I can’t hide my pride
And I remember thinkin if I lived a long long time
That these quiet fleeting moments would never leave my mind
It’s hard to find a station without a Jesus song
The static wakes her up she just smiles
Through divine intervention Janis Joplin comes in strong
And the family band starts singin away the miles
And I remember thinkin if I lived a long long time
That these quiet fleeting moments would never leave my mind
Oil fields and the memories of what’s lost and what I’ve gained
Through droughts and quakes and fires of my own
It must have been when Janis had sung her last refrain
That the spirits fade and I am left alone
Now the shotgun seat is empty and the bench in back is bare
Red lights flashin in the mirror and in my mind
Cause I stole that truck stop jerky and I harmed the boy in there
Wish I never had no family to leave behind
And I remember thinkin if I lived a long long time
That these quiet fleeting moments they’ll never leave my mind
Well it’s I-5 South at twilight…
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10. |
Divine
02:40
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I seen the news I know the score
They sure grow ‘em pretty in Baltimore
Now you never aimed to be no typical girl
You just shave off your eyebrows and you rule the world
We had nothing to do, nowhere to go
But there’s midnight movie at the picture show
As the credits rolI I could just be me
In that big pink dress you set me free
There was Roman Candles, Eat Your Make up, Mondo Trasho, Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble,
Polyester, Hairsprayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Through the pearly gates went my trashy queen
With a mouth like a sailor but lips so keep
We’re stuck down here while you’re way up there
With a buncha hunky angels in their underwear
There was Roman Candles, Eat Your Make up, Mondo Trasho, Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble,
Polyester, Hairsprayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
I seen the news and I know the score
They sure grow 'em pretty in Baltimore
Now asshole-ism is still a crime
We’re just normal fucking people but you’re Divine
There was Roman Candles, Eat Your Make up, Mondo Trasho, Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble,
Polyester, Hairsprayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
…and The Diane Linkletter Story and Multiple Maniacs...
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The Cheeky Few Whittier, California
The Cheeky Few is a four piece roots band from Whittier, CA. Their songs aim to address today's world through the well worn traditions of American music. Please enjoy!
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