Get all 17 John Vanek releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Stationhouse, Bottomless Coffeepot, Nothing On The Mainline, Carousel, The Invisible Dreams of Vernon Dupont, On Brighton Beach, Golden Stick, KoKo (Keep on Keepin' On), and 9 more.
1. |
Gold Town
03:26
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I hitched up my pony
Right outside the bar
Just a spit and sawdust place
But I’d come this far
Took a drive down the Kenny Road
Off the beaten track
I cut myself loose
Cut myself some slack
In my gold town
In my gold town mama
In my gold town
In my gold town
Your daughter’s in college
Your son has long left school
You’re an empty nest now
But everything is cool
Got yourself a bookstore
Got yourself a bar
Got yourself half a brain
So pick up your guitar
In your gold town
In your gold town mama
In your gold town
In your gold town
Oh people telling you
Keep your feet on the ground
But this time I know
I’m going to stick around
In my gold town
In my gold town mama
In my gold town
In my gold town
No need to do too much
When there’s nothing much to do
Just ride with your energy
Don’t need a point-of-view
Far away from the fumes
Far away from the city lights
Here on the wild Atlantic way
You can see the stars at night
In your gold town
In your gold town mama
In your gold town
In your gold town
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2. |
Sitting in the Bistro
02:46
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Sitting in the bistro
Listening to the radio
Reflecting on things
Picking up ideas
You bitched about the piped music
You said they always get it wrong
Always making poor choices
For the background songs
Then you got a job in retail
You did not care about the detail
Putting clothes on a steel rail
It was your secret love
Oh it was your secret love
Hoping things will crystallise
Hoping the scales will fall from your eyes
Hoping you can final take off that silly disguise
Sitting in the bistro
Listening to the radio
And in the room
The women come and go
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3. |
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I don’t control a thing
She does all the running
I said I don’t control a thing
She does all the running
She is going to seek you out
She is going to seek you out
There’s no two ways about it
She is going to seek you out
If you want to fly with it
She will probably push you away
You better let her get on with it
You better not stand in her way
She is going to seek you out
She is going to seek you out
There’s no two ways about it
She is going to seek you out
I see you in the other room
I can hear you sing
I can see those pale white hands
Doing some useful thing
She is going to seek you out
She is going to seek you out
There’s not two ways about it
She is going to seek you out
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4. |
Carousel
04:28
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Johnny went down to Euston
To take a train up north
Didn’t know where he was going
But he knew he had to head on out
He’s into hard work
And following a path
He’s streets ahead of the rest
He’s got the last laughs
He’s on a carousel
You never can tell
He’s on a carousel
You never can tell
Susie’s got a memory
Like you would not believe
Other things people don’t notice on the streets
She can always see
She’s got a magnetic mind
She’s got powers of recall
Other people don’t get it
But Susie can see through it all
She’s on a carousel
You never can tell
She’s on a carousel
You never can tell
Sylvie came over from Italy
To work here in the sticks
She’s into marine biology
And statistics
They told her she was crazy
They told her she was wrong
But she’s doing what she loves
She’s singing her own song
She’s on a carousel
You never can tell
She’s on a carousel
You never can tell
Henry looks wild
He’s got big crazy hair
He still plays in a couple of bands
Here and there
When he was a boy of seventeen
He wanted to go to London to have it made
But his daddy said: ‘No son’
You gotta stay behind and learn a trade
He’s on a carousel
You never can tell
He’s on a carousel
You never can tell
They’re on my carousel
Oh you never can tell
They’re on a carousel
You never can tell
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5. |
Slipstream
03:32
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Where the slipstream blows
The slipstream blows
Where the slipstream blows
The slipstream blows
Blowing across the cities
Blowing across the fields
By the time it is through
All will be revealed
Where the slipstream blows
The slipstream blows
Get up in the morning
Put on your checkered shirt
Take a walk
In the clean old country dirt
You head up to the tracks
It’ll be two hours before your’e back
Where the slipstream blows
The slipstream blows
Look at the people
Caught up in their scenes
All I want to do
Is stay here and plant some seeds
I love to watch them grow
In the sun and the rain and the snow
This is where life begins
Where the slipstream blows
The slipstream blows
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John Vanek London, UK
John Vanek is a singer-songwriter, slide guitarist and keyboard player. He is also a London underground busker.
John Vanek recommends:
Secret Garden is a beautiful album of solid great songs by Amy Goddard. I love the singing, the lyrics and Amy's fabulous arrangements.
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