Fiddlin’ Around

Album: Up on the Ridge

Album Release Date: June 8, 2010

Label: Capital Records Nashville

Producer: Jon Randall Stewart

Track 7: “Fiddlin’ Around”

Single Release Date: n/a

My Thoughts/Interpretation/Insights: “Fiddlin’ Around” is the sixth track on the album. This is a fun little song that has our narrator impatiently waiting for a girl to come out and join him. There are a few ways to interpret this one. He could be asking her to come out and listen to music with him. He could also be asking her to come out and hear him play music with his friends/the band. He could also be asking her to simply come out and have some “fun”…a/k/a messin’ around/fiddlin’ around. It could be a combination of all of these intentions. Either way – for whatever reason – she is hesitant to come out, has forgotten her “promise” to him, has changed her mind, or he is just simply a little anxious to get the fun evening started with her!

Let me know what you think of this one. Leave me a comment!

Listen to the song and follow along with the lyrics below! I have also included the official music video and a live version. Enjoy!

Fiddlin’ Around

Written by John Scott Sherrill, Shawn Camp, and Jeff Austin

Up in the window light tonight
Where I can see your silhouette
I’ve been throwin’ little stones
But I don’t believe you’ve even heard me yet

Today you crossed your heart
And said you’d meet me in the dark
When I called you on the phone
You pretended you weren’t home

Hey baby, what do you say
Won’t you come on outside tonight
The moon is finally shinin’ bright as day
Hey what do you say
Can’t you hear the music in the wind
And see our shadows on the ground
Aw won’t you come on down
We’re gonna do a little fiddlin’ around

Can’t ya hear the banjo’s ringin’ through the air
There’ll be mandolins and guitars everywhere
Now don’t you wanna be there

Hey baby, what do you say
Won’t you come on outside tonight
The moon is finally shinin’ bright as day
Hey what do you say
Can’t you hear the music in the wind
And see our shadows on the ground
Aw won’t you come on down
We’re gonna do a little fiddlin’ around

If you’d look outside, you’d see the lights
Of my old corvette
Are you tryin’ to drive me crazy babe
Or did you just forget

Hey baby, what do you say
Won’t you come on outside tonight
The moon is finally shinin’ bright as day
Hey what do you say
Can’t you hear the music in the wind
And see our shadows on the ground
Aw won’t you come on down
We’re gonna do a little fiddlin’ around

Bad Angel

Album: Up on the Ridge

Album Release Date: June 8, 2010

Label: Capital Records Nashville

Producer: Jon Randall Stewart

Track 6: “Bad Angel”

Single Release Date: n/a

My Thoughts/Interpretation/Insights: The sixth track on the album is “Bad Angel”. This is a really great song – one of my favorites from the album! The track features Miranda Lambert and Jamey Johnson. The song deals with the struggle of temptations -whatever the temptation may be – be it smoking, alcohol, or gambling. It uses the classic theme of  the  devil (or “bad angel”) whispering in one’s ear, trying to tempt the listener to tap back into one their vice(s) instead of following the good path. I especially like the lyric – “Well I know I should not gamble, ‘Cause I can’t afford to lose”. This is a great line that tackles both the financial loss of partaking in gambling, along with the potential to lose one’s soul. Great stuff!

I love this sing. Once you’ve heard it a couple of times you can’t help but sing along. My daughter and I sing this one in the car all the time!

Let me know what you think of this one. Leave me a comment!

Listen to the song and follow along with the lyrics below! I have also included two live versions (one with Thomas Rhett and one with Lee Brice – both filling in for Jamey Johnson). Enjoy!

Bad Angel

Written by Verlon Thompson & Suzi Ragsdale

Bad angel, get off of my shoulder
Bad angel, let me be
I’m standing at the cross roads
Of Temptation and Salvation Street

I woke up bound and determined
That I would not light it up today
But one drag would stop my shakin’
Right now I could go either way

Bad angel, get off of my shoulder now
Bad angel, let me be
I’m standing at the cross roads
Of Temptation and Salvation Street

Well the cap is on the bottle
And the bottle is on the shelf
Should I take it or leave it?
Honey, how am I gonna help myself?

Bad angel, get off of my shoulder (get on off of my shoulder)
Bad angel, let me be (oh let me be)
I’m standing at the cross roads
Of Temptation and Salvation Street

That’s right,

Well I know I should not gamble
‘Cause I can’t afford to lose
She’d hang me from the rafters
Put the laces in my old working shoes

Oh, bad angel, get off of my should (get on off of my shoulder)
Bad angel, let me be
I’m standing at the cross roads
Of Temptation and Salvation Street
Yes I’m standing at the cross roads
Of Temptation and Salvation
Temptation and Salvation
Temptation and Salvation Street
(Oh yeah)
Yeah, ha ha ha ha

Draw Me a Map

Album: Up on the Ridge

Album Release Date: June 8, 2010

Label: Capital Records Nashville

Producer: Jon Randall Stewart

Track 5: “Draw Me a Map”

Single Release Date: August 23, 2010

My Thoughts/Interpretation/Insights: “Draw Me a Map” is the fifth track on the album. This song was also the second (and final) single released from this album. This is a nice, smooth song that features Alison Krauss on background vocals. The narrator sings of trying to mend a fractured relationship. He wants to work things out with a girl, but is so lost that he doesn’t even know where to begin to apologize and to steer the ship back on course. He is reaching out to her to tell him what to do to make it better and save their relationship.

This song speaks from the heart and is worth the listen.

Let me know what you think of this one. Leave me a comment!

Listen to the song and follow along with the lyrics below! I have also included the official music video and a live version. Enjoy!

Draw Me a Map

Written by Dierks Bentley & Jon Randall Stewart

Staring deep into your eyes
Searching for answers to questions I can’t find
If I took for granted that I held your heart
I’d beg forgiveness but I don’t know where to start

So, draw me a map that leads me back to you
I don’t know where to go, please tell me what to do
Help me find the road you’re on
I just need directions home
Draw me a map that leads me back to you

I’ve never been so at a loss
I’m at a canyon I can’t get around or cross
So baby come down here, lay by my side
And tell me love’s not lost across the great divide

Draw me a map that leads me back to you
I don’t know where to go, please tell me what to do
Help me find the road you’re on
I just need directions home
Draw me a map that leads me back to you

You’re my destiny and destination
Understand my desperation, you
The only place I wanna be
So get us back to you and me

Draw me a map that leads me back to you
I don’t know where to go, please tell me what to do
Help me find the road you’re on
I just need directions home
Draw me a map that leads me back to you

Rovin’ Gambler

Album: Up on the Ridge

Album Release Date: June 8, 2010

Label: Capital Records Nashville

Producer: Jon Randall Stewart

Track 4: “Rovin’ Gambler

Single Release Date: n/a

My Thoughts/Interpretation/Insights: The fourth track on the album is “Rovin’ Gambler”. This is another song that includes The Punch Brothers. This song is sure to get your toes tappin’ as our narrator sings of his love of cards and gambling. He winds up with a girl, but soon leaves her to go about his gamblin’ ways. He ends up in Maine in a poker match with a cheater. He shoots the cheater and winds up in prison. Classic material here.

Let me know what you think of this one. Leave me a comment!

Listen to the song and follow along with the lyrics below! I have also included four great live versions. Enjoy!

Rovin’ Gambler

Written by Dierks Bentley & Jon Randall Stewart

I am the rovin’ gambler, I’ve gambled all around
Whenever I meet with the deck of cards,
I lay my money down
I lay my money down, I lay my money down

I had not been in Frisco many more weeks than three
Yeah I met up with a pretty little girl,
She fell in love with me
Fell in love with me, fell in love with me

She took me to her parlor, she cooled me with her fan
Whispered low in her mother’s ear “I love the gamblin’ man”
Love the gamblin’ man, love the gamblin’ man

Daughter oh dear daughter, how can you treat me so
Leave your dear old mother and with the gambler go
With the gambler go, with the gambler go

I left her in Frisco and I wound up in Maine
I met up with a poker player and got in a poker game
Got in a poker game, got in a poker game

He put his money in the pot and dealt the cards around
I saw him deal from the bottom of the deck, shot the gambler down
Shot the gambler down, shot the gambler down

Now I’m down in prison, got a number for my name
The warden slammed the door and said “You’ve gambled your last game”
Gambled your last game, gambled your last game
Gambled your last game, gambled your last game

Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)

Album: Up on the Ridge

Album Release Date: June 8, 2010

Label: Capital Records Nashville

Producer: Jon Randall Stewart

Track 3: “Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)”

Single Release Date: n/a

My Thoughts/Interpretation/Insights: “Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)” is the third track on the album. This song is a cover of a Bob Dylan song from his 1978 album, Street-Legal. This version of the song features the talents of Chris Thile and The Punch Brothers. I don’t even know where to begin on trying to interpret the meaning of this song. I’m not afraid to admit that I may be way off the mark on this one. I suspect (as with most art/music) that there are lots of interpretations and only Bob Dylan knows the full meaning behind the song. My take on this song is that the narrator is going through some kind of change/transition. I interpret the song as the death of the singer, riding a train and speaking to a nameless man, reliving scenes from his life, and wondering what is ahead. No matter what the meaning is behind the lyrics, this is a really good cover of Dylan song. I prefer it to the original!

Let me know what you think of this one. Leave me a comment!

Listen to the song and follow along with the lyrics below! I have also included a live performance from The Ellen Show along with a live version with the Infamous Stringdusters. Enjoy!

Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)
Written by Bob Dylan

Señor, señor
Can you tell me where we’re headin’?
Lincoln County Road or Armageddon?
Seems like I been down this way before
Is there any truth in that, señor?

Señor, señor
Do you know where she’s hidin’?
How long are we gonna be ridin’?
How long must I keep my eyes glued to the door?
Will there be any comfort there, señor?

There’s a wicked wind still blowin’ on that upper deck
And there’s an iron cross still hanging from around her neck
There’s a marchin’ band still playin’ in that vacant lot
Where she held me in her arms one time and said, “Forget me not”

Señor, señor
I can see that painted wagon
Smell the tail of the dragon
I can’t stand the suspense here anymore
Can you tell me who to contact here, señor?

Well, the last thing I remember before I stripped and kneeled
Was that trainload of fools bogged down in a magnetic field
And a gypsy with a broken flag and flashing ring
Said, “Son, this ain’t a dream no more, it’s the real thing”

Señor, señor
You know their hearts are hard as leather
Give me a minute, let me get it together
I gotta pick myself up off the floor
I’m ready when you are, señor

Señor, señor
Let’s overturn these tables
And disconnect these cables
This place don’t make sense to me no more
Can you tell me what we’re waiting for, señor?

Fallin’ for You

Album: Up on the Ridge

Album Release Date: June 8, 2010

Label: Capital Records Nashville

Producer: Jon Randall Stewart

Track 2: “Fallin’ for You”

Single Release Date: n/a

My Thoughts/Interpretation/Insights: The second track on the album is “Fallin’ for You”. This is one of my favorites from the record. The song features the talents of none other than Chris Stapleton on background vocals. The narrator sings of being unable to stay away from a girl. It seems that she keeps dumping him and he keeps coming back. He sings of the “tears (he’s) cried” and her “soul (being) black”. He just can’t seem to move on. The song has a very bluesy, soulful sound to it. Very nicely done.

Let me know what you think of this one. Leave me a comment!

Listen to the song and follow along with the lyrics below! I have also included a “beind-the-scenes” video along with a live version. Enjoy!

Fallin’ for You
Written by Shawn Camp and Paul Kennerley

I can’t stand this fallin’ for you
Every time I see you
I keep crawlin’ towards you

Can’t take this achin’ feelin’
This cold heart-breakin’ feelin’
Can’t stand this fallin’ for you

Well, I hang my head by the riverside
Burst its banks with the tears I’ve cried
The ripples roll out to the sea
I wish they was washin’ over me

I can’t stand this fallin’ for you
Every time I see you
I keep a-crawlin’ towards you

Can’t take this achin’ feelin’
This cold heart-breakin’ feelin’

Can’t stand this fallin’ for you
Every time I see you
I keep a-crawlin’ towards you

Can’t take this achin’ feelin’
This cold heart-breakin’ feelin’
Can’t stand this fallin’ for you

Well, your blood is red but your soul is black
Don’t believe I’m a-comin’ back
And now I know why the willows weep
The tide is high and the water’s deep

I can’t stand
I can’t take

I can’t stand this fallin’ for you
Every time I see you
I keep a-crawlin’ towards you

Can’t take this achin’ feelin’
This cold heart-breakin’ feelin’

Can’t stand this fallin’ for you
Every time I see you
I keep a-crawlin’ towards you

Can’t take this achin’ feelin’
This cold heart-breakin’ feelin’

Can’t stand
(This fallin’ for you)
I can’t take
(I can’t take)
I can’t stand this fallin’ for you

Up on the Ridge

Album: Up on the Ridge

Album Release Date: June 8, 2010

Label: Capital Records Nashville

Producer: Jon Randall Stewart

Track 1: “Up on the Ridge”

Single Release Date: April 12, 2010

My Thoughts/Interpretation/Insights: I’m really excited to talk about this album. For Bentley’s fifth studio album, he decided to make a bluegrass record. He has discussed in many interviews how things kind of came to a head in 2008/2009 and he needed to do something different. I’m glad he did. Wow! I love his previous albums, but this one is so dang good. I feel like this album really helped move him from being a country “star” to a country “artist”.

The first (and title) track, “Up on the Ridge” kicks things off. The song was also released as the first single from the album. The song has our narrator inviting his girl to leave the city for the country either for a night or maybe for good. The song highlights the beauty of a simpler, more free, country life “up on the ridge”. Now, I should note that Bentley sings about getting “high up on the ridge” which could be interpreted in a couple of different ways. We’ll leave that for the listener to decide!

I love everything about this song. The lyrics, the banjo, the fiddle. It is all great on this one. It is easily one of my favorites. Top Ten maybe? I’ll have to come up with that list in a future post. That’ll be tough to narrow down! The song just blends together everything I love about country and bluegrass. It’s also very catchy. Bentley enlists Ronnie McCoury on mandola, Sam Bush on slide resonator mandolin, Bryan Sutton on resonator guitar, and Alison Krauss on harmony vocals. These are just a few of the musicians behind this song.

Let me know what you think of this one. Leave me a comment!

Listen to the song and follow along with the lyrics below! I have also included the official video along with two live versions. Enjoy!

Up on the Ridge
Written by Angelo and Dierks Bentley

Let’s blow out these city lights
Let’s just leave it all behind
Get up where the air is still
You can hear the whippoorwill
Start a fire pass the shine
Wont be home ’til mornin’ time
Shout your name out in the wind
Confess my love for you again
Give you all I got to give
That’s how we live up on the ridge

Won’t you come with me tonight
Where the moonlight drifts into your eyes
Yeah, I just want one little kiss
When we get high up on the ridge

Hey now honey child we’d be runnin’ free and wild
No one care what you do
Ain’t no law to answer to
Dance around in the dirt
Listen to them crickets chirp
Hear old Jake start to howl
When he hears that ol’ hoot owl
Give you all I got to give
That’s how we live up on the ridge

Won’t you come with me tonight
Where the moonlight drifts into your eyes
Yeah, I just want one little kiss
When we get high up on the ridge

Come on girl it’s almost dawn
Lets get it ‘fore the magic gone
Tall tall grass all around
Come on lay that blanket down
Wild flowers just like you
Lay on me like mornin’ dew
Now take my hand walk with me
Sun come up through them trees
Give you all I got to give
That’s how we live up on the ridge

Won’t you come with me tonight
Where the moonlight drifts into your eyes
Yeah, I just want one little kiss
When we get high up on the ridge

I just want one little kiss
When we get high up on the ridge

Beautiful World (Live from the Artists Den)

Album: Live from the Artists Den: Season 2

Album Release Date: June 1, 2010

Label: Artists Den Records

Producer: ?

Track 7: “Beautiful World (Live from the Artists Den)”

Single Release Date: n/a

My Thoughts/Interpretation/Insights: In 2010, Dierks Bentley was featured on a 2nd season episode of the television show, Live from the Artists Den. Here is more info. on the live performance that was recorded in April of 2010 at the Ravenswood Billboard Factory in Chicago:

https://artistsden.com/dierks-bentley

There’s not too much to say about this track. It’s a very good live version of the song. The main differences are that Patty Griffin is not performing the song with Dierks and that it is a live rendition. The track is still well worth the download. You can see my review of the studio recording that featured Patty Griffin here:

https://tracksofthedesertson.wordpress.com/2018/06/24/beautiful-world/

Let me know what you think of this version of the song. Do you like it?

Listen to the song and follow along with the lyrics below! Enjoy!

Beautiful World
Written by Jim Beavers, Brett Beavers and Dierks Bentley

All the noise and the voices are screamin’
What they have to say
And the headlines and sound bytes are givin’ me
Demons to hate
And the man on TV
He tells me it’s ugly
But if you ask me

It’s a beautiful world
It’s a beautiful world

There’s tears and there’s fears and there’s losses and crosses to bear
And sometimes the best we can do is just to whisper a prayer
And press on because
There’s so much to live for and so much to love

In this beautiful world
Say what you will but I still believe
It’s a beautiful world
It’s a beautiful world

And I know (I know)
I’m not dreamin’
I just choose (choose) to believe it

So I hate that I sometimes miss what’s right in front of my eyes, oh
And I know at the end of my road I’ll be wantin’ more time
Just another sunset
One more kiss from my baby
A smile from a friend

In this beautiful world
It’s a beautiful world
Yeah, it’s a beautiful world

Say what you will, but I still believe
It’s a beautiful world
Yeah, it’s a beautiful world
Oh, it’s a beautiful world

17 Cents [Side Track]

Album: Things That Fly

Album Release Date: April 16, 2010

Label: Sugar Hill

Producer: ?

Track 11: “17 Cents”

Single Release Date: n/a

My Thoughts/Interpretation/Insights: In 2010, Dierks joined The Infamous Stringdusters for the 11th track on their album, Things That Fly. What a great collaboration! It is no secret that Bentley loves bluegrass and teaming up with the Stringdusters was a great decision. This song is indicative of the bluegrass direction Bentley would take with his next album release. You can’t help but tap your toes to this tune. The narrator’s girl has left him and he sings the woes of being left with only “17 cents”. It seems at every turn, someone else wants to take that 17 cents – whether it be the IRS or beggars – and he’ll be left with nothing at all.

Let me know what you think of this song. Do you like it?

Listen to the song and follow along with the lyrics below! I have also included a link to a concert version (without Bentley). Enjoy!

17 Cents
Written by ?

17 cents is a whale of a lot
17 cents is what I got
Grocery bills, the heat and the rent
All i got left is 17 cents
19, 18, 17 cents, dirty old dime and a penny’s bent
Ain’t seen nothin’ of my darlin’ since
She left me here with 17 cents

Well down the road and around the bend
Lookin’ for gold at the rainbow’s end
Over the field and under the fence
Pockets are lined with 17 cents
19, 18, 17 cents
Dirty old dime and the penny’s bent
Ain’t seen nothing of m’darlin’ since
She left me here with 17 cents

I got a letter from the IRS
“You owe back taxes–17 cents”
Wish I had all the money they spent
Spent on bringing in 17 cents
19, 18, 17 cents
Dirty old dime and the penny’s bent
Ain’t seen nothing of m’darlin’ since
She left me here with 17 cents

I Went to Nashville and wrote me a song
Put it on a record by Fiddlin’ John
Bill Monroe and Joseph Spence
Royalty check was 17 cents
And down the road, skid row gents
Always begged for 17 cents
Never did find out where they went
To buy anything for 17 cents

17 cents for a cup of joe, ticket home or a burger roll
Never did find out where its spent
To buy such things for 17 cents

Somewhere in Mississippi [Side Track]

Photo Credit: Danny Clinch

Album: n/a

Album Release Date: n/a

Label: n/a

Producer: ?

Track: “Somewhere in Mississippi”

Single Release Date: March 29, 2010

My Thoughts/Interpretation/Insights: “Somewhere in Mississippi”. Oh, man. I’ve been waiting a long time to talk about this song! I’ve been doing my best to talk about each song in the order that they were released so it has taken awhile to get to this point. So what is it about this song that has had me so anxious to talk about it? There are a couple of reasons. First, this song was an exclusive release as part of a songwriting challenge for the April 2010 issue of Esquire magazine. It was only available to download for one day! Second, it’s a great song! The song has our narrator going away with a girl that he barely knows and he quickly finds himself in spots of trouble.

I have a copy of this song, but I am definitely not confident that I have the whole thing. My copy is only 1 minute and 36 seconds long. That can’t be the whole thing! This one really has to come out in a Dierks Bentley boxed set someday!

Read more about the Esquire songwriting contest at these links:

Dierks Bentley Is ‘Somewhere in Mississippi’ for Esquire

The Esquire Songwriting Challenge: “Somewhere in Mississippi”

Do you have this song? How long is the full track? What are the complete lyrics? Let me know what you think of this one. Do you like it? I love it! For the love of God, someone get me the full mp3 of this one!

Listen to the (partial) song and follow along with the (partial) lyrics below! I have also included behind-the-scenes videos. Enjoy!

Click this first link to hear the (partial) song:

“Somewhere in Mississippi” — A New Free Song from Esquire

Somewhere in Mississippi
Written by ?

I had only known her about six days or so
When she pulled into my drive and said “Road Trip. Let’s Go!”
Jumped in her Jeep, out 40 West
Right past Graceland we took a left
Had a funny feelin’, thinkin’ we should turn around
Somewhere in Mississippi (sure enough) things went South

We dived into some whiskey at the Shack Up Inn
The deeper we dove the closer over she slid
Pressed her lips to mine had me feelin’ like a star
But it was all just a show for her old boyfriend at the bar
As the fists started flyin’ I was thinkin’ to myself
Somewhere in Mississippi, things went South

Now I’m stuck in Jackson with not a dollar to my name
And some tattooed, big dude all up in my face
I’m hopin’ for a way out but right now I’m havin’ some doubts
Somehwhere in Mississippi, things went South