Get all 11 Dave Gunning releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Same Storm, A Game Goin' On Remix, Christmas, Up Against The Sky, Lift, No More Pennies, Christmas Too, a tribute to John Allan Cameron, and 3 more.
1. |
All Along The Way
03:23
|
|||
Along The Way
Dave Gunning / Jamie Robinson
Is it right or is it wrong, I heard it in a Rebel song
Leaves me with a question mark, spinning tails and open hearts
I sunk my wheels in the dirt, got hung up on your every word Now I'm counting days to kill the time, 'til I'm back to what I left
behind
Ashes to ashes and east to west
These are the roads that know me the best
No matter how long no matter how far I stray
I need you all along the way
Boots laced and pulled tight, worn thinner on the outside
Every step worth it's weight, worth the give worth the take
There's a place for everything, at least that's how it's supposed to be For all the times I've come and gone, I still know where I belong
Ashes to ashes and east to west
These are the roads that know me the best
No matter how long no matter how far I stray
I need you all along the way
I need you all along
I need you
Ashes to ashes and east to west
These are the roads that know me the best
No matter how long no matter how far I stray
I need you all along the way
|
||||
2. |
Coal From The Train
04:18
|
|||
Coal From The Train
Dave Gunning / Bruce Guthro
I've worked this job since I was 15
On this old steel liner running on steam
Cutting through the woods to the mills stations and towns Through the wind and rain beating down Got my share of problems that I won't share That's just the way that it goes 'round here There's food on our plates and clothes on our backs That's more than I can say for some folk along these tracks
Oooooh shovelin' coal from this train
Before the sun rises I'm back in my boots
And I'm killing time with some old railway tune
It's been a long winter it's been cold as hell
We'll stop for lunch when the clock strikes twelve
When the work gets tough the money stays the same
Yet we hold on to things that haven't changed
And for all the ones without a chance to give back
We do this job even though they never ask
Oooooh shoveling coal from this train
Sometimes I get mean when I'm a drinking not a man you want to cross But I'll not see a child go hungry or face a winter frost As we pass by these troubled shacks we try to ease their pain We dig those shovels way down deep no need to explain Oooooh shoveling coal from this train
I've been retired now for a year
Still hear that engine ringing in my ears
The train still smokes and that whistle blows
I watch my TV and sit here by the stove
When I'm on my way into the liquor store
I run into folks taking money for the poor
I reach in my pocket and dig for change
And hand it out no need to explain
Oooooh shoveling coal from this train
|
||||
3. |
We Can't Win
03:29
|
|||
We Can't Win
Dave Gunning / Jamie Robinson
I keep feeling like I'm in the back seat
When all I want to do is steal the wheel and drive
Without ever looking back
You and I could ride along the coast line
Lose ourselves just to see what we might find
When we get off of the map
We should be doubling down on the long shots, we should be climbing
out on a limb
If it's a game between the two of us, you and I should be betting big If we're not playing we're not playing we can't win
There's a part of us that always waiting
Holding on holding out for the perfect time and then going nowhere I keep hearing the horizon calling And all I want to do is take your hand in mind Cause the road is open wide
We should be doubling down on the long shots, we should be climbing
out on a limb
If it's a game between the two of us, you and I should be betting big If we're not playing we're not playing we can't win
Ya you know those times
When we walked but should have run
Well here we are right now
We can't lose to anyone
Doubling down on the long shots, climbing out on a limb
If it's a game between the two of us, you and I should be betting big If we're not playing we're not playing we can't win
|
||||
4. |
A Game Goin' On
03:17
|
|||
A Game Goin' On
Dave Gunning/ David Francey
There's hockey on TV it's Saturday night
At the rink across the road they play under the lights
Come winter time it's the game that we love
I just play for fun but there's hockey in my blood
Down to the rink to the pond to the river
There's a game goin' on goin' on forever
With shovels in hand we come from all around
On a bright and windless day when the snow stops coming down Let's all meet by the lake at the end of the town Where the anthem that plays is that shovel scraping sound
Down to the rink to the pond to the river
There's a game goin' on goin' on forever
Down to the rink to the pond to the river
There's a game goin' on goin' on forever
And whoever shows up that's who gets to play
Let's divy them up in the usual way
All sticks in the middle then each one to an end
To get a goal shoot the puck between the frozen boots let this game
begin
The blue line's a thin line of dried yellow grass
The bull rush defense man's in the way of the pass
Some hardly skate some skate just like the wind
Let's play until it's dark 'til when we have to go back in
Down to the rink to the pond to the river
There's a game goin' on goin' on forever
Down to the rink to the pond to the river
There's a game goin' on goin' on forever
Down to the rink to the pond to the river
There's a game goin' on goin' on forever
There's hockey on TV it's Saturday night
|
||||
5. |
These Hands
04:07
|
|||
These Hands
Dave Gunning/ George Canyon
Some hands have held the world together
Some hands have fought in wars forever
Tell me what shall I do with these hands of mine
Some hands have blessed a million people
Some hands helped free the world from evil
Tell me what shall I do with these hands of mine
What shall I do with these hands of mine
What shall I do with these hands of mine
The world could use a hero of the human kind
So tell me what shall I do with these hands of mine
Some hands can stop a life from dying
Some hands comfort a baby crying
So tell me what shall I do with these hands of mine
What shall I do with these hands of mine
What shall I do with these hands of mine
The world could use a hero of the human kind
So tell me what shall I do with these hands of mine
I want to sing it from my heart, I want to hear it in the wind 'Til it blows around the world, and comes back again All that we can ask, is for ours to be free To use them when we want, for whatever the need
Some hands give voice to a nation
Some hands wrote "The Times They Are a-Changin'"
So tell me what shall I do with these hands of mine
What shall I do with these hands of mine
What shall I do with these hands of mine
The world could use a hero of the human kind
So tell me what shall I do with these hands of mine
What shall I do with these hands of mine
What shall I do with these hands of mine
The world could use a hero of the human kind
So tell me what shall I do with these hands of mine
So tell me what shall I do with these hands of mine
|
||||
6. |
The Family Name
04:12
|
|||
The Family Name
Dave Gunning/ Jamie Robinson
Standing on the port side of a British Brigantine, bound by a promise
to place I haven't seen
Traveling light with no reason to stay, with only my family name
There'll be wheat to be raised and barley to sow, grass for the cattle
rich land for the plough
There'll fish in every stream, wild fowl and tame, for me and my
family name
Let these roots take hold as the days unfold
So I may stand the test beyond my last breath
Fire lights at midnight as we ghost along the shore, met by cold
despair for struggle was in store
Not one empty acre for raising up the grain, it was a tortured test of
faith
But I felled the tallest pines I dug into the dirt, toiled through
each waking hour for all that I was worth
That's where I built my homestead, that's where I laid my claim, for
me and my family name
Let these roots take hold as the days unfold
So I may stand the test beyond my last breath
I felt sickness and fear and I've watch 15 years roll by
Now I'm standing on the hillside looking out beyond, and I can see my
home my wife and my three sons
May they write it on my stone before it's ever called to shame, as
they carry the family name
Let these roots take hold as the days unfold
So I may stand the test beyond my last breath
Let these roots take hold as the days unfold
So I may stand the test beyond my last breath
|
||||
7. |
Too Soon To Turn Back
03:45
|
|||
Too Soon To Turn Back
Dave Gunning/ Jamie Robinson
Night falls like charcoal on a mist covered moon, erasing another day And I'm caught in between having so much to tell you, and not knowing
what to say
Words don't come easy they don't fall from the sky
No matter how hard I try
I don't know where this heart's gonna land
It's like a tornado touching down
And I can't explain it I'm just hoping some how
That it's not too late to figure this out
Cause it's too soon to turn back now
I could read you a story of the soft covered kind, complete with
surprise at the end
And picture you listening and closing your eyes
To the pages the chapters dreaming in colour
With me by your side
I don't know where this heart's gonna land
It's like a tornado touching down
And I can't explain it I'm just hoping some how
That it's not too late to figure this out
Cause it's too soon to turn back now
Words don't come easy, they keep taking their time
No matter how hard I try
And I can't explain it I'm just hoping some how
That it's not too late to figure this out
Cause it's too soon to turn back now
Too soon to turn back now
|
||||
8. |
Little White Seeds
04:15
|
|||
Little White Seeds
Dave Gunning/ Karine Polwart
He let in the day like he'd seen it before
Just like he'd seen enough and he was ready to go
And then she came running blowing weightless and free
Like the little white spinning angel wings on the little white seeds
She had air in her fingers she had hair in her eyes
It was the colour of amber they were the colour of skies
She said, "papa I'm flying can you fly like me too"
He said, "you take my hand and we'll travel the whole world together" And he gave her his wings as he let the last strings go forever
She let in the day like she'd seen it before
Just like she'd seen enough and she was ready to go
She looked to the horizon where the fields had released
All those little white spinning angel wings on the little white seeds
She had years in her fingers she had tears in her eyes
They were the colour of amber they were the colour of skies
In her mind she is flying blowing weightless and free
Her hand reaches to hold on to summers still golden in her mind Then she gives up her wings and she lets the strings go for the last
time
|
||||
9. |
||||
When The Cold Weather Comes
Dave Gunning/ Jim Dorie
When the cold weather comes and the earth begins to freeze
With a pale yellow glow and stubble in the fields
A lonely scarecrow watching with nothing left to do
But wait when the cold weather comes
Then comes the falling snow that will settle in to stay
Then the wind blows it around but won't blow it away
Beneath the frosty blanket in the midwinter bleak
Fast asleep when the cold weather comes
When the cold weather comes this town will grow quiet
Then the whisper of the wind will push a hole through the silence We'll gather in the kitchen play the tunes a little longer The wood burns hotter when the cold weather comes
There's time to think about the seasons come and gone
And the one that lies ahead that will spring up from the ground You may have a chance to get some rest You might even catch your breath When the cold weather comes
We'll know when it's right we'll know it's the time
When we feel like we're missing the world goin' by
When cabin fever swells there's a way to break free
And time to leave when the cold weather comes
We'll enter the doors of the pubs of the towns
Where it's better to be early ahead of the crowd
And all those girls stand in line with barely nothing on They're the toughest ones when the cold weather comes
So raise your glass to the seasons come and gone
And the one that lies ahead that will spring up from the ground You may have a chance to get some rest You might even catch your breath When the cold weather comes
|
||||
10. |
The Weight Of My Guitar
04:20
|
|||
The Weight of My Guitar
Dave Gunning/ Lennie Gallant
Picked up my guitar and passed it to the kid
He said he found it heavy guess I hadn't thought about it
He must have struck a chord somewhere in the back of my mind Maybe from another time
Bought it new when I was a young and set out on the road
The songs came fast but the lines grew old
The colour of it darkened before my eyes
As another world fell inside
Broken strings left behind from stories where I stood
Like wishes from a fallen star
And it's cracked from those aches that I drove into the wood You'd never guess it from afar The weight of my guitar
Ghosts from the past are hiding in there
Skeletons from closets in need of repair
The best kept secrets whispered in a bar
Under the bridge of my guitar
"Don't tell" she said, "unless you do
In a song that makes me a little less blue
I'm a sucker for a punch line and that's no joke"
Then I watched her go
Broken strings left behind from stories where I stood
Like wishes from a fallen star
And it's cracked from those aches that I drove into the wood You'd never guess it from afar The weight of my guitar
Somewhere there's a heart it's heavy as a ton
I can feel it getting lighter with the beat of every strum You'd never guess it from afar The weight of my guitar
|
||||
11. |
That's When We Fell
03:36
|
|||
That's When We Fell
Dave Gunning/ Jamie Robinson
I had never seen the stars so close as they were
Right before this perfect world ended
We never touched the moon it was just for us to see
It will never be like the beginning
It's locked in the dark like scripture and verse
Protected from changes or reason
If I could gather these thoughts and rewrite the words
Maybe then I'd understand them
We climbed up so high with oxygen thin spinning close to the edge We looked down that's when we fell I wish you well
The wind and the rain wear everything down
'till a memory is the only thing leaving
Now I'm trying to speak but I can't make a sound
Holding silence as a gift worth giving
We climbed up so high with oxygen thin spinning close to the edge We looked down and that's when we fell I wish you well
We burned like a fire with oxygen thin spinning close to the edge We looked down that's when we fell I wish you well
I had never seen the stars so close as they were
Right before this perfect world ended
|
||||
12. |
Living In Alberta
03:23
|
|||
Living In Alberta
Dave Gunning/ Jim Dorie
I thought I'd leave for a year or two make some money and return to you But outside the darkness passes by another shift bus morning ride The icy fog horizon line not part of nature's grand design The flare stack makes you think it's dawn long before the sun
I'm living in Alberta miles away from everything I know
I'm living in Alberta dying to get back home dying to get back home
I used to walk along the beach to feel the sand beneath my feet But out here there's no ocean waves you wouldn't hear them anyway These grains of sand don't wash and roll they're heavy black and fused
with oil
100 tons in every load on one never ending road
I'm living in Alberta miles away from everything I know
I'm living in Alberta dying to get back home dying to get back home
Now I've made a lot of friends out here but it's not where I belong And Alberta's she's been good to me I'll miss her when I'm gone
But I'll know when the tide is in I'll feel your breath upon my skin Sitting by the fire again singin' to your ocean I know I'll miss the Northern lights but not those minus forty nights And if someone sings a Ron Hynes song we'll know every word
|
Dave Gunning Pictou, Nova Scotia
With a career spanning over two decades and 13 albums, Dave has gained a reputation for being a great storyteller and engaging performer who has the profound ability to take listeners on a musical journey through his songs. Much of his material is about the underdogs, heroes, family, the heart and reflects the messaging of social justice and carrying about the world around us. ... more
Streaming and Download help
If you like Dave Gunning, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp