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.

Anywhere But Here

from Since You Been Gone by Sam Steffen

/

lyrics

Now I am a taker in this hard-up world, the fortune-teller told me first
She proved it to me when I took her word for every penny it was worth
to this day I still can’t say how it all first came to her so clear
when way back then I was on my way—to anywhere but here

I’s born a long ways from my home, but I been bound there ever since
And I’s made to walk the road alone, in fact, I’ve leapt at every chance
I’ve lost count of both my friends and foes, I can’t keep track of every fallen tear
Good and bad, they come and go—they’re with you anywhere but here

some folks they live in stacks of brick, some in cities of cement
for a long time I was most at home whichever way the railroad went
and every time that station whistle’d call, the sound was music to my ear
the trains they come from no place at all, bound for anywhere but here

It was easy going for a while, I’d say—that is, until the road got rough
And I earned my money in a honest way, until I didn’t have enough
When the time was ripe to make a break, my engine stalled in second gear
I might’ve settled for a simpler fate, one that put me anywhere but here

well I found myself in some trucker bar where the beer was pretty cheap
I drank my fill and went to pay and learned my purse was not so deep
They took what I owed them out of my flesh and threw me out upon my ear
Said I was welcome back anytime—that is, anywhere but here

I always dreampt I’d wind up some place, where all there’d be is time to kill
But where I’m from dreams get replaced by working dayshift at the mill
And the work is hard, and when you’re through, you look back on your career
The old men say it’s all okay—somewhere, anywhere but here

I swear there’s nothing I got left in store, I won’t hand you no excuse
Please just don’t hit me anymore, I can’t take no more abuse
yesterday’s is too far gone, and tomorrow’s never near
you can’t never change the road you’re on—when you’re not anywhere but here

I’s never much of a praying man, the Lord I’d never cause to fear
But if you’re somewhere up there, Old Man, here’s one prayer I hope you hear
If I go gently in the night, or hard, falling down upon my spear
lord, when I die, please just see that I—wind up anywhere but here

credits

from Since You Been Gone, released February 14, 2020

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Sam Steffen image

Sam Steffen Boise, Idaho

Sam Steffen is a Pennsylvania-bred, Boise-based singer-songwriter whose songs are the torch-wood for a new generation of folk music that has learned from the best stuff in the tradition and aims in spite of everything to keep the human spirit alive and kicking. A versatile musician and skilled finger-picker, Sam is at heart a story-teller, and a prolific one. ... more

contact / help

Contact Sam Steffen

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Sam Steffen, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring interviews with LA music scene pillar Kamasi Washington, and new London-based duo Mrcy.

listen now