Get all 9 John Ellis releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of NATIVE, GROWING SILENT, TELLS, PROTEST SONGS, BUSH TELEGRAPH (EP), COME OUT FIGHTING REMIXES, GET YOU (Radio Edit), RURAL, and 1 more.
1. |
Be When Done
02:56
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humpback floating on the
low tide beneath a
dark lighthouse on a
rainy night
i guess all journeys
end on a foreign shore
i’m on my own now –
wonder who i’ll be when i’m done
highway collapsed on
Christmas day – by the
time they noticed i was
miles away
i’m not suggesting
i’m fully responsible
but these things happen
wonder where i’ll be when i’m done
devil’s in blackface
God’s in white
everything’s mysterious if you
look at it right
Jesus is an acrobat
who talks this and acts that
right now i’m a dancer –
wonder who i’ll be when i’m done
inside that humpback
they found my painting
there were signs of struggle some kind of
battle had been raging
i caught my reflection in my
whale’s dead eye - they were
three long nights while i
wondered where i’d be when done
© John Ellis 2022
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2. |
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I came of age on a 747
strange how you can feel like hell so close to heaven
even with a backstage pass for the Magic Kingdom
apart from the fine print everything out there is bigger
the only time I thought again was Pennsylvania
I had ammunition but no-one to squeeze my trigger
and I left home with my tail between my legs
and I came home with it tied around my neck …. (what can I say?)
If I knew then what I know these days
I would’ve put a chain around my heart
everything I learned I learned the hard way
I paid too much for what I got
There is a restaurant in the Land of Milk & Honey™
All You Can Eat and you walk out feeling hungry
Everybody’d busking in the country that invented money
They say it takes ten thousand hours to pay your dues
It only takes one broken heart to learn the blues
If I knew then what I know these days
I would’ve put a chain around my heart
everything I learned I learned the hard way
I paid too much for what I got
and I left home with my tail between my legs
and I came home with it tied around my neck …. (what can I say?)
If I knew then what I know these days
I would’ve put a chain around my heart
everything I learned I learned the hard way
I paid too much for what I got
© John Ellis
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3. |
Rather Be Alone
03:23
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i’d rather be alone than
ever be in love again (love again)
i’d prefer remembering to
waiting for the bitter end (bitter end)
when i was a young man i
i was a young man i
i was a young man i
waited night and day (night and day)
for the love of my dreams to
finally come my way (come my way)
and when my turn finally came i
went down on one knee (on one knee)
and sooner or later i was
on both begging darling please (darling please)
then i was a free man
i was a free man
i was a free man
met the love of my life (of my life)
she took my broken heart and somehow
broke it two more times (broke it twice)
so i’d rather be alone than
take somebody’s hand (someone’s hand)
i’d rather be somebody’s memory than
be somebody’s man (someone’s man)
everywhere i go
everywhere i go
everywhere i go i
tread carefully around broken hearts (broken hearts)
everybody seems lonely wishing
they could go back to the start (to the start)
because we’re all born alone
maybe we’re better off staying that way (staying that way)
yes i’d rather be alone than
ever be in love again (love again)
i’m just kidding baby i
would love to be your friend (be your friend)
© John Ellis 2022
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4. |
Sun Going Down
04:27
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that was the hottest January ever recorded
since they ever started keeping records but
don’t worry baby – it’s just the sun going down
this is the first time in living memory we’re trying to keep from
importing something made in China but
don’t worry baby – it’s just the sun going down
the Empire’s over all the royals are decamping
there is one less yellow star in the gold blue Union but
don’t worry baby – it’s just the sun going down
clowns on thrones nobody’s hands on the wheel
they’re trying to make it all great again when it was never really great but
don’t worry baby – it’s just the sun going down
we’re all quantumly entangled still stuck in our teens
we’re no better at reality since Jesus was weaned
we’re not officially at war but we are all refugees
we should have known – sunset is inevitable
my GPS shows a new destination
all made from plastic floating loose in the ocean but
don’t worry baby – it’s just the sun going down
humpbacks have evolved a forty-a-day habit
it’s all worse than you can imagine should you choose to believe it
but don’t worry baby – it’s just the sun going down
Russia’s got Rambo and China’s got Mao and
Africa is darker and Europe is sinking but
don’t worry baby – it’s just the sun going down
so far all we have to share with life on Mars
is if you hold the camera right you too could be star
we are all so surprised that it’s getting so dark
we should have known – sunset is inevitable
used to have Dylan now all we’ve got is Sheeran
everybody’s a preacher and there’s no more silence but
don’t worry baby – it’s just the sun going down
i’m going to find myself a quiet mountain looking
over the ocean and i’m, i’m going to sit there until
until until the sun goes down
© John Ellis 2022
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5. |
What A Time
02:14
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the Southern Cross hangs above the beach
the summer sun within our reach
so let’s sit below the mountain
pour another glass of wine
what a time to be leaving
what a time
and rain will come to the thousand hills
and everything will drink its fill
all the highveld waits expectant
as towers of cloud begin to climb
what a time to be leaving
what a time
jacarandas on a purple breeze
the night comes late – the crescent moon agrees
she was once an unwed mother
but she has just learned to be kind
what a time to be leaving
what a time
so throw another log on the fire
nothing here dies on the vine
what a time to be leaving
what a time
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6. |
State Of The Nation
03:04
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facedown in
a sunflower field
state – state of the nation
burning books
in a burnt-out school
state – state of the nation
totem poles of slanted eyes
crocodile teeth, suits and ties
state – state of the nation
state – state of the nation
my turn to eat
and i want more
didn’t join the struggle
to be poor
state – state of the nation
state – state of the nation
born-free nights
work-free days
state – state of the nation
NDR - RET
RDP - EWC
state – state of the nation
if it’s a rainbow then there has to be
a pot of gold and a pHD
state – state of the nation
state – state of the nation
warlords on
the building site
state – state of the nation
to fill the taxis:
burn the trains
state – state of the nation
state – state of the nation
penthouse suite
of a sinking ship
state – state of the nation
minority rule:
minority rule
state – state of the nation
state – state of the nation
© John Ellis 2022
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7. |
Dogs
04:05
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whispering voices in the trees
hungry jackals on the prowl
whispering voices in the treetops
hungry jackals all on the prowl
you better come on in the farmhouse
i hear the dogs beginning to howl
we just lost another acre
i can tell because the air is foul
we just lost another acre
i can tell because the air smells foul
you better come in from the fields
i hear the dogs beginning to howl
telephone wires hanging loose
all the neighbours are throwing in the towel
telephone wire hanging loose on the poles
neighbours are throwing in the towel
you better stand guard on the hilltop
i hear the dogs beginning to howl
spies in the countryside
warlords are sending out scouts
spies in the countryside
warlords sending out their scouts
you better shelter on the mountain
i hear the dogs are beginning to howl
chain link is ringing
underneath gathering clouds
chain link fence is ringing
underneath the gathering clouds
you better stand back from the roadside
i hear the dogs are beginning to howl
round up your sheep and cattle
dig your treasure from the ground
round up all your sheep and cattle
dig your buried treasure up from the ground
pull the night up like a blanket
i hear the dogs are beginning to howl
© John Ellis 2022
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8. |
Ultimatum Tree
04:12
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pulled across the high river
on a swollen summer day
Great White Queen waiting for them on the other side
she spoke in their favour
sitting cross-legged at her feet
in the shade of the ultimatum tree
sugar-water in the noon-day heat
ox on the fire
courtesy of the Empire
cloaks up around their shoulders
sticks in hand to leave
the queen said “one more thing before you go”
“i have decided to rescue
your people from your king
i heard them cry for help from across the sea”
“and I’m here to tell you
it is time to change your ways
i am here to tell you i am now your queen”
“so dismantle your army
let your soldiers marry young
and only go to war if i say so”
they asked her “when have our people
ever complained?
we do things as they have always been done”
she said “you have until
the moon comes up again
over this ultimatum tree”
two weeks they walked
through the rain back to the king
the demands of the queen in their ears
but the king already knew
from the whispering hills
he knew a great enemy had come
the Great White Queen swam across
his river in the night
long before the new moon came around
and she marched through the summer grass
dressed red and white for war
bearing a club fashioned from the ultimatum tree
all asleep under a mountain
in the January sun
the king beat her back with the horns of a bull
in time she dragged
the king from his forest
and crumbled up his kingdom in her hands
and she led him to a wooden ship
bound for captivity
a ship made from the ultimatum tree
in time the king was allowed
to return home to die
and he sailed back the way he had come
the Great White Queen, home and dry,
warmed her feet at the fire
the flames rising from the ultimatum tree
© John Ellis 2022
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9. |
Subaltern Boutique
05:20
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when i got back from the war
i wasn’t sure who the enemy was
when i got back from the war
i wasn’t sure who the enemy was
every president prays
every thief makes the sign of the cross
i’ve got an exit strategy
for when the apocalypse comes
i’ve got an exit strategy
for when the apocalypse comes
i’ve designed it to withstand
the light of a thousand suns
today the clouds gathered up the horizon
waited for the command
today the clouds gathered up the horizon
waited for the command
since the weather changed hands
it’s unlikely things’ll go as planned
thirty-seven roses at the foot
of the lighthouse and i waited all night
thirty-seven roses at the foot
of the lighthouse and i waited all night
i have to admit
she’s putting up a hell of a fight
sometimes i hear my guitar
telling secrets meant for someone else
sometimes i hear my guitar
telling secrets meant for someone else
sometimes you’ve got to watch the ones
you love do things you’ve never done yourself
i feel a little more bewildered
at the end of every day
i feel a little more bewildered
at the end of every day
i’ve got a mantra
i just wish i had a license to pray
i’m at right angles to the sun
in the cradle of humankind
i’m at right angles to the sun
in the cradle of humankind
my voice has a colour
but thank God the whole world is going blind
i’m neither one nor the other
mama, i’m non-binary
i’m neither one nor the other
mama, i’m non-binary
i get all my clothes
from the Subaltern Boutique
© John Ellis 2022
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10. |
Down Paradise
03:42
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there are better days ahead
there are better days ahead
burning skies behind us now
behind us now
come with me down paradise
come with me down paradise
come and see what we could be
what we could be
there’s a weeping woman there
there’s a weeping woman there
and a young man beating all for love
all for love
there are better days ahead
there are better days ahead
smoking fires behind us now
behind us now
©John Ellis, Patric van Blerk, Fransua Roos 2022
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11. |
What'd You Call Me?
05:14
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t-shirt Levi’s polarized lens
four wheel drive Mercedes Benz
i am gujarati Zulu kingdom
original Khoisan Anglo Saxon
what’d you call me?
goat skin on my wrist next to Lakshmi’s thread
my earth turns gold my rivers run red
i am French Huguenot indentured Hindu
1820, 1652
what’d you call me?
pangas in the sugar cane fire on the hill
single-malt in the dunes, I’ll drive, I don’t spill
I am southern suburbs - Amanzimtoti
Higginson Highway - Shoshanguve
what’d you call me?
electrified my fence on the Day of the Vow
i paid for my wife with fifteen cows
i am umnumzane - indoda
Gereformeede - Tamil Tiger
what’d you call me?
run of the country Speaker of the House
that’s my Honourable Member you’ve got in your mouth
i am monopoly capital - Spear of the Nation
redeployed cadre without compensation
what’d you call me?
president’s keeper - email leaker
Bafana republic thank you Fifa
i am junk status - state capture
flying economy - Born Free-loader
what’d you call me?
ancestral visa K-Mash Section T
i have reason to believe we all be received in
Kempton Krugersdorp Khayelitsha
Sophiatown -District Six- Wild Coast- Nyanga
what’d you call me?
personalized plates in Die Ou Transvaal
stockpiled ammunition from Die Swart Gevaar
i am migrant labour - Mini Cooper
frequent flyer - Flying Dutchman
what’d you call me?
Manenberg Skokiaan Sarie Marais
hot pants at Splashy Fen - Durban Poison in my hair
i am Shosholoza- Pata Pata
Woza Friday - Alibama
what’d you call me?
cloth’s on the Table bitter almonds on the fence
armed forces in the suburbs - pasop amagents
i am ducking and diving - cattle rustling
border duty - stick fighter
what’d you call me?
children kicking round the Cullinan diamond in the yard
i turned a hill into a hole trading beads for the farm
i am Barney Barnato -blue blood diamond
Hensopper- veteran - Uitlander
what’d you call me?
Auckland Brisbane London Toronto
passport in my pocket like a dompas from long ago
i am kwere kwere- amabhunu
interloper - sea-borne umlungu
what’d you call me?
if Orania has a blackout, white hats in parliament
bunny chows in Woolworths, Red Ants in the squatter camps
satellite dish on the tin roof, Mount Nelson high tea
beetroot in the hospitals - halal Gatsbys
what’re you going to call me?
i am Boesman - Michael K- Boksombende
Beloved Country - Sizwe Banzi
Ke a leboga - shalom Aleichem
Thuma Mina - Om Sai Ram
cold Benguela - Ponto d’Ouro
African Renaissance - Adamastor
Gondwanaland- Mzansi
Cape Dutch -Meadowlands - Kalahari
aweh brasse - amajita
dankie – Inshallah- dhanyavaad
© John Ellis
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John Ellis Durban, South Africa
A singer-songwriter from Durban, South Africa, John has played his music all over the world. His fifth full-length solo album "Native"will be released on April 27 2022.
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