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Sunshine State Of Mind

by STEViE - One Bloke One Mandolin

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Sunshine State Of Mind 00:00 / 06:27
1.
The Western Saloon 05:48
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I left Spain some days ago, drove many miles there's been so many roads I've travelled upon I’ve played a few places to many new faces, as I travelled those roads with my songs It's no easy journey through rain, wind and snow and the days and the nights have been long But I'm here now in Berlin at the Country Music Meeting, a place where I feel I belong CHORUS I'm playing my music for you now this weekend, spending good times with good friends The days may be long and the nights even longer, it's a party I don't want to end Its not the first time I've been in Berlin, singing and playing my tunes And there's many a night that I've spent drinking pints down in the Western Saloon I've sat there with Franky, Marion and Jackie chatting the evening away And after a beer, a glass raised shouting CHEERS !! I've stood on the stage there and played CHORUS I'm playing my music for you now this weekend, spending good times with good friends The days may be long and the nights even longer, it's a party I don't want to end MIDDLE So pull up a chair, have a meal and a beer with good music filling the room At the Country Music Meeting here in Berlin, down in the Western Saloon I left Spain some days ago, drove many miles there's been so many roads I've travelled upon And I played a few places to many new faces, as I travelled those roads with my songs CHORUS I'm playing my music for you now this weekend, spending good times with good friends The days may be long and the nights even longer, it's a party I don't want to end The days may be long and the nights even longer, spending good times with good friends.... It's a party I don't want to end
2.
Dust On My Boots 03:40
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It was said to me that a country song's gotta be sung by an American That really ain't the way things have to be It ain't about the country of your birth Or if you're from the north or south It really ain't about your geography There's a part of me forever Stateside bound Lulled by a lonesome whistle's sound That plays in my head and keeps me company I could be Appalachian mountain high Or in an Arizona desert, hot and dry With an eagle flying over my head, living free Chorus. I wasn't born or raised no country boy But I've got dust on my boots and a whole lotta road in me An' I may dream of open plain or riding on the footplate of a southbound train But there's country music in the blood flowing through my veins Mid 8 I sing and play my mandolin I write about places that I've been And I'll tell you tales of dark and stormy nights Stories of some ne'r do wells Gunslingers on the road to hell While we sit around the fire till dawn's first early light You can see how much this means to me I’ve got a growing country music family In the US, the UK, in Poland and in Germany I play my music when and where I can I travel round across these lands An’ all y'all are damn fine company CHORUS x 2
3.
Taking My Time 03:13
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Had enough days of pretty fast living Rushing all around heading A to B Rarely getting time to contemplate the moment Reckon now it's time to take some time for me CHORUS Maybe I could take a boat out on the water Maybe write a song or write a rhyme But whatever I choose I'll be just chilling 'Cos I'll be taking my time folks I'll be taking my time Find me a spot to do a little fishing A quiet place just to sit and be Watch the water slowly flowing down a river A gentle current heading for the sea CHORUS MID 8 A little bit of peace, a little tranquillity Escaping from the bustle of this life Where life’s all about the hustle and the bustle Sometimes life ain’t nothing but strife So take yourself time to take a little moment Take yourself away from the stresses of the day When all around you seems to be pulling you asunder Time to take the time out and find a better way CHORUS 'Cos I'll be taking my time folks I'll be taking my time
4.
Mountains 05:18
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As we travelled down through Spain we found ourselves in mountains As we headed south together we found so many more There wasn't many empty miles before we saw another Now each morning when I wake I'm seeing mountains from my door CHORUS Mountains, mountains, mountains I watch them as the sun sets, I love to watch them glow Mountains, mountains, mountains, mountains I'm sad to leave them when it's time to go Fiddle motif Our home ain't in the mountains but they're very dear to me At just a few miles down the road they're close enough to see I've watched them as the sun rises, I’ve watched them as it sets And if there's a better place to be I sure ain't found it yet CHORUS Four years of British winter from the start through to the end We traveled down to sunny Spain and postcards home we sent Telling tales of happy times, the reason why we come Brexit it ain’t beating us, we’ve got our residencia done CHORUS The roads they twist and wind as we're riding through the mountains And we'll find a mountain cafe where we'll sit and drink a beer Though I love the British countryside and riding through its lanes I really love my Spanish mountains and I’m happy when I'm here CHORUS x 2 Mountains, mountains, mountains, mountains, mountains I love my Spanish mountains and I’m happy when I'm here
5.
Breathe 05:43
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I hate to see the wars around the world there's more and more I hate to see so many people cry I hate the politicians who order bombing missions And I hate seeing innocent folks die And I hate the hate in me for all the things I cannot change Though I try to change a little day I have a dislike of religion and the abuse of it's position You won't find me on my knees and I don't pray CHORUS Breathe in, breathe out and breathe in once again I try to stress less when I can then I'll go do it all again Breathe in, breathe out and breathe in once again As this world falls apart I'll go do the best, the best I can For the homeless in the doorways I pass on my spare change But the change that they are needing's something more And if you listen to their voice it's mostly circumstance not choice It's time the system offered them a different door CHORUS MID 8 Well I've broke a rule or two and many times I've broke myself Like the waves that break upon a broken shore I seek a righteous path that I'll follow to my death That's a part of me I find hard to ignore CHORUS So I do the best I can to be a better man And I do my best at most things that I do From time to time I'll fail but I'm not afraid to go to jail To bring about a change for me and you and you and.... CHORUS x 2 Breathe out, breathe in Breathe out, breathe in Breathe out, breathe in Breathe out, breathe in Breathe out, breathe in Breathe out, breathe in.... Then go count from one to ten
6.
Down At The Six String Bar-B-Q 03:46
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Sitting on the back porch drinking down a beer Playing with friends while we're sitting here At the best little smokehouse out on the edge of our town There's a fiddle player and a mandolin, we’ve bass guitar and there’s songs to sing And we'll lift your spirits if ever you're feeling down CHORUS The simple things are what life's dreams are made of Like sitting on the back porch drinking beer And if you're feeling blue, you know exactly what to do Come spend the evening with your friends down at the Six String Bar BQ We've got a pit master looking after the food The local beer is a damn fine brew And because we had the room we put in a dance floor too We've a live band plays on the weekend here Songs old and new, they've been playing years And if you play you can get up and maybe play a song or two CHORUS Mid 8 The older guy with the long grey hair Sitting at the back in the corner there With a drink in hand he’s been known to write a song or two Looking like a loner but that ain't so He's been around and he's played some shows And if you ask he may write a song for you As your evening draws now to an end Sitting there with a few good friends Knowing that you had *the best of times But you know you'll have so many more And you say goodnight, walk out the door Everything in your world seems just fine CHORUS x 2
7.
Chainsaws And Banjos 04:04
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By a lazy old river in the late afternoon the still air is ripped by the sound Of a chainsaw at work and of logs being sawn as the sawdust piles up on the ground.... When the work is all done and the drinking begun he gets out his banjo to play Sitting picking those strings as he gently sings, the sun sets on a beautiful day CHORUS Chainsaws and banjos and life on the water A person could ask for no more As he opens a beer, he proffers a CHEERS !! Then he opens another and pours MID 8 At the end of daylight and way into the night he sits, drinks and plays as he sings Many stories are told of times now and old and perhaps what the future may bring As a new day comes 'round, once more there’s the sound as the saw cuts it's way through the wood It's a joy not a job as he cuts up those logs and he sings to himself life is good CHORUS Then he opens another and pours
8.
Lakes 05:03
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Many times I've been told there are lessons to be learning All the lessons that I've learned mostly came from my mistakes And the mistakes flow like water running swiftly down a river As that river flowed down to the sea it filled my life with lakes CHORUS Lakes of wisdom, lakes of learning There are many kinds of lakes Some are shallow, some are deep There's been lakes of tears Shed down the years For the friendships made and lost And those lessons learned though losses Are in the memories that I keep There's been glories, there's been passions in this life I've come to know And with those glories and those passions, tales of woe The good comes to the surface, washes up upon the lakeshore While the hurt gets washed away by my life's riverflow CHORUS Mid 8 There are islands on those lakes Full of friendships that I've made Down the years through the good times and the bad Sometimes the waters they were rough But those friendships toughened up And they became the best of good times that we had Now I look across the table at my friends sat there before me And beside of me are many, many more It took us years to appreciate the gift we all were given Sometimes we may be shipwrecked but we wash up on life's shore CHORUS
9.
The Edge Of The Everglades 04:46
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His daddy was a fisherman, whose brother fished beside him In the family fishing business working out amongst the islands As with most the local families, was the only life they knew Sons and fathers, brothers, uncles, all made up the crews With their quotas getting lowered by both government and state All their businesses were going south, that slowly sealed their fate They would put their boats to other use where money could be made Smuggling drugs from south America fuelling new trade CHORUS With one eye on the sky and the other on the ocean Looking out for FBI or DEA or for the coastguard It was just a different business, with good money to be made Out in The Ten Thousand Islands on the edge of the Everglades A few years came and went, the early eighties were a boom Business fruitful, folks were busy but the feds would catch on soon Though the drugs were bought in quietly, trafficked through with stealth There were far too many townsfolk showing too much wealth CHORUS Middle 8 When the busts came, it was quickly and so many in one town Over half the population, many of them would go down There were many families broken up, so many tears were spent The sentences were passed down and off to jail they went There are stories that are told of hidden money tucked away It's out amongst the mangrove and remains there to this day It's quietly revisited in the dead of night But you'd never know, the locals learned, there ain't no wealth in sight. CHORUS
10.
Waves And Flames 04:57
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The waves are rolling up the beach The tide is rising higher And the flames they lick around our feet As we lay here by the fire The dawn will soon be breaking Sun rising o'er the sea And there's nowhere in this world I’d rather be Than in your arms.... here by the sea I've never seen a moon so bright Shine upon a sea It bathes us in it's eerie light As we lay here you and me The waves are breaking gently The sea so still and calm And I'm laying here entangled in your arms In your arms.... here by the sea In your arms.... here by the sea The waves are rolling up the beach The tide has risen higher And the flames still lick around our feet As we lay here by the fire The new day's dawn has broken Sun risen o'er the sea And there's nowhere in this world I’d rather be Than in your arms.... here by the sea In your arms .... here by the sea
11.
Sunshine State Of Mind 06:27
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I'm in a sunshine state of mind And this world that I inhabit suits me fine And my drugs are mostly working and they're working most the time I'm in a sunshine state of mind I've got good friends they keep me grounded They keep me on my feet but grounded every day If I'm down they help to lift me, through the murky gloom they'll shift me So my black days are mostly shades of grey CHORUS I've had fair travels, I've had fine times Through we threw our trailer down the road that time The wind just caught us like a leaf but it was much to our relief We all walked away unscathed and we survived CHORUS I'm living happy and mostly free And I smile sometimes for all the world to see It may look forced; it may look strained I may be looking somewhat pained But the truth is what you're seeing's the real me. CHORUS I'm in a sunshine state of mind And the drugs are mostly working and they're working most the time I'm in a sunshine... state... of... mind...... oh oh oh I'm in a sunshine... state... of... mind...... oh oh oh oh oh in I’m in a sunshine… state… of mind A sunshine state of mind A sunshine state of mind

about

I’m in a sunshine state of mind. I really am.
For a large part of the year I now live in Spain, in a caravan, with mountains on three sides of me and mostly in sunny weather. I’ve made and maintained some good friendships over the years in various parts of the world and my health is average for a person of my age though that’s not to say it couldn’t be improved upon.
Could I be happier? Possibly, there are always things that could be better, both in my life and in other’s lives that would make me a whole lot happier with the world we all live in but until such times I’ll keep taking my drugs…. they’re mostly working and they’re working most of the time.
CHEERS !!

credits

released September 1, 2022

This here is my seventh studio album. I had debated with myself as to whether I would return to a simpler way of recording, just playing my mandolins and singing but I’m fortunate to count some superb musicians amongst the friends I’ve made down through the years so why would I not avail myself of their talents.

Stevie Simpson – Vocals, Mandolins, Octajo
Damon Sawyer - Drums, Percussion
Nick Drury - Bass Guitar
Albert Rumengan - Guitar
Peter Van Den Bos – Fiddle
Tracey Browne – Piano, Baritone Guitar, Vocals
James Anthony ‘Snagger’ Turner - Harmonica

All songs written by Stevie Simpson
Produced by Stevie Simpson and Damon Sawyer
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Damon Sawyer at Crescent Records Studio, Swindon
Album artwork by Drew Rivers

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americana country folk unsigned artist country folk country rock folk mandolin solo male artist Coventry

about

STEViE - One Bloke One Mandolin image

STEViE - One Bloke One Mandolin Coventry, UK

Having toured and performed at festivals around Europe with Kane & Co. and Cactus Jack and also gigging and recording in the US in the late 90s into the early 2000s, nowadays he performs as Stevie Simpson (One Bloke One Mandolin) playing original country, folk and americana songs.

Stevie has seven studio albums to his name, his latest being Sunshine State Of Mind released in October 2021. ... more

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