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.

Hearsay

by Stephen Simmons

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $7 USD  or more

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 74 Stephen Simmons releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Little Bird Singing, Live at Byron's in Pomeroy, Iowa, The One You're Leaving Behind, SMOKE & MIRRORS, Honey From A Spoon, Blackberry Winter & Heartache Stew, Us, Family Album, and 66 more. , and , .

    Excludes subscriber-only releases.

    Purchasable with gift card

      $121.23 USD or more (35% OFF)

     

  • Compact Disc
    Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in a lovely digipack design with arwork by Monika Umba

    Includes unlimited streaming of Hearsay via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

1.
Hearsay 03:49
HEARSAY Sure I saw you at the bar and I knew If I could get you alone I might have a chance with you A spring Midwest moon in full view Can make a jaded heart seek something true Chorus: Maybe your Heaven’s just a dream delayed Maybe your Hell’s just living the same day after day They say sometimes that a heart can betray But I didn’t get this far listening to hearsay Oh what’s the harm in one more drink Oh what’s the harm in coming over Tonight I got nowhere to sleep Silly words now it’s been one whole week Looked into those big brown eyes and I guess I blinked Chorus Window’s open in her bedroom Soft, Slow kisses on the heart wounds Now I’m driving down the road and don’t know If I’ll ever feel this again or see this stretch of road White cotton dresses with her shoulders showing Sweet and soft yet so tough to let go Chorus Words and music by Stephen Simmons ©copyright secured all rights reserved Shiny Geode Music, SESAC
2.
Emily's Eyes 03:37
EMILY’S EYES I was driving myself crazy Nearly out of my mind I was singing about a lost love I was singing about hard times I was trying to write a new song Find a line I hadn’t used In the three-hundred songs before And themes worn out by my muse Chorus: Then I thought I saw a sign That butterflies are still alive Deep in her eyes If love truly shines light I bet it looks a lot like Emily’s eyes Some nights I feel like a poet Some nights I feel like a clown Some nights it could go either way Depending on the town There were nights I could move a mountain Had ‘em in the palm of my hand There were nights no one would listen And I could barely raise my head Chorus I was floating on the high plains Cosmic dust just passing through She took me in with a deep breath And then I was born anew Chorus Words and music by Stephen Simmons ©copyright secured all rights reserved Shiny Geode Music, SESAC
3.
I’LL BE YOUR JOHNNY CASH I was minding my own business A Southern boy in a Midwest town I played my show and I took my pay But for some reason hung around The reason had long, long legs Under a skirt that went so high That reason had long blonde hair And big, big brown eyes Chorus: I’ll be your Johnny Cash If you’ll be my Audrey Hepburn And I’d walk that line for you just to see where those hips curve I’ll kiss you in the rain baby where the Moon River turns Step into this ring of fire feel it baby burn, burn, burn I stepped into a vortex A black hole of space and time I looked up and it’d been five days Since I’d seen that heart of mine She asked if I believed in love The June and Johnny kind She asked me if I always wore black Said it suits me fine Chorus I’ve played Paris Amsterdam with girls on bikes Brussels leaves me breathless Nearly every time London, Dublin, New York, L.A. Where the women have such style But somewhere in the Midwest’s Where I lost that heart of mine Chorus Words and music by Stephen Simmons ©copyright secured all rights reserved Shiny Geode Music, SESAC
4.
THE BOOBIE BUNGALOW GENTLEMEN'S CLUB I pulled off of '65 Dirty and dog-tired And down on my luck Been driving for days And i could not explain What hit the brakes on that ole truck Like the North Star in the night sky Guiding me for miles to that neon sign Chorus: Down to the Booble Bungalow Gentelmen's Club Where I fell in love There's truck stop romancing, exotic couch dancing While you fill your Semi up No hometown to judge you No rejection from lost love Down at the Boobie Bungalow Club Her stage name was 'Rain' This Goddess who came With these messy strings attached Like a nine year old boy An ex-husband in Detroit Who very much wanted her back Like me she was past prime But like morning rain to me she still shined Chorus: Shattered glass hit the stage As the beer splashed my face That club filled up with fisticuffs I blew 'Rain' a kiss as I crawled out through that side door Hit '65 on two wheels in my old Ford Chorus Words and music by Stephen Simmons ©copyright secured all rights reserved Shiny Geode Music, SESAC
5.
I AIN’T LONELY (I’M JUST LONESOME) Chorus: I ain’t lonely I’m just lonesome And I don’t miss her I just miss love And I’m not down tonight I just get sad some I ain’t lonely I’m just lonesome I took a penny from a wishing well I guess I took it upon myself To try and help my situation along I gave a girl all my best And then I gave her all the rest Of myself but none was left then she was gone Chorus I took a girl’s hand and then We danced all night and it seemed Heaven sent But now all I’m left with is just this song Cause she was someone’s else I guess I should have known I should have bet That I’d wake up alone come the early dawn Chorus Sometimes it ain’t the one that got away Sometimes it’s just the feeling you can’t escape Her ego led her to false assumptions Cause I ain’t lonely I’m just lonesome Chorus Words and music by Stephen Simmons ©copyright secured all rights reserved Shiny Geode Music, SESAC
6.
GOLD AND SILVER Glistening ‘neath the store light Shinin’ on display He’d lay his money down If he could pay Could see a day in Springtime Gardenia’s in the sunshine Daisies twistin’ in her hair He imagined it that way Chorus: Gold and Silver Are very hard to come by But love is purer But it doesn’t shine You think that you look better In Gold and Silver But Gold and Silver Won’t make you mine Wear it on your finger Slip it in your pocket Fastened on a necklace Around her neck on a locket Just another poor boy Big heart and no joy Just another waiting girl Thinking that he’s coming for her yet Chorus All the treasures of this Earth Can’t measure a love and all it’s worth Chorus -Liz Foster / Stephen Simmons
7.
HORSECAVE, KY Horsecave, Kentucky on a Saturday night It's a hell of a way spend your life Can get yourself into trouble quicker than you think Be on Guntown Mountain before you can blink Willie met Betty at the adult bookstore Just off I-65 And they got themselves an ice-cream cone At The Dinosaur World that night Black-eyed Susan's looking over the ridge The Peafowl's call, the river's over the bridge She said she wasn't going to but she did anyway She just meant not in the light of day I know I felt the Earth move The first time we laid down in the grass But the splendor didn't last Just left me clinging on to the past Springtime in Kentucky warms up when the goldenrods bloom And it's hotter than Hell before it's June But it's nice and cool down in Mammoth Cave I'd like to crawl down there tonight to get away Passer by's and truck drivers Pull off of the Interstate We take their money for cigarettes And our bourbon that only we can make Betty made Willie #7 after their date But now she's looking for husband #8 Willie couldn't be true, she caught him cheatin’ at the Dinosaur Show Where he is these days only the Interstate knows Yeah I know there's a city Two hours each way up this Interstate But for some damn reason never seem to leave These pink dinosaurs so strange Horsecave, Kentucky on a Saturday night It’s a helluva way to spend your life words & music by Stephen Simmons © Shiny Geode Music / SESAC
8.
Stardust 03:24
STARDUST Honey I know you wanted me to be a jerk I know you wanted me to be an ass Honey I guess I lost my nerve To be cruel to you was just too much to ask Well everybody thinks that I’m a real laid-back dude But I’m a bundle of nerves yeah I’m a walkin’ talkin’ spaz But honey when you look at me the way you do Brings a calm all over me like nuthin’ ever has Chorus: Is that glitter on your face? Or just Stardust from your eyes? Or have I drank too much tonight? Heard Poets talk of love But I’m scared to jinx or say That it could happen this a way It’s true that I’ve been tough to tie down Come on strong and then I fade from my advance I can see you got your own ways to protect yourself and how You'd hit the red button if heartache had a thread of a chance You gotta big blag dog with a big deep ole growl You shoot at my feet just to back me up and watch me dance But you were talking big he’s just a puppy and you were shootin’ at the ground I promise not to fade if you don’t sabotage this romance Chorus Words and music by Stephen Simmons ©copyright secured all rights reserved Shiny Geode Music, SESAC
9.
SANTA CRUZ RIDGE Meet a stranger but you feel like you know her A glance, a hello, and a touch on the arm And you're strapped in on a super rollercoaster It's funny how these things always start You wanna leave but the butterflies sing And they flutter when you get a little closer Now a years gone by, you'd think that I Would know better how to show her Chorus: Well the Bluffs overlooking the coast line of the Santa Cruz Ridge Stretch out across the ocean, but they never fall in And the morning sun’s shadow hangs down over the water’s playful white caps But the massive ridge she never does give, stays exactly where she’s at Highway 1 by the coast of the ocean We drove with the windows down The radio was broken And the wind was the only sound You wanted me to show emotion To say what I was feeling outloud But I don't know where I got the notion I'd done enough to show you by now Chorus It's a complicated human trait How a heart seeks to be fulfilled But were so hard-wired and stuck in this mire In defense against a lifetime of guilt Babe I ain't no mover of mountains But you can make em outta mole hills But I swear by God you can only try As hard as the other person will Chorus Words and music by Stephen Simmons ©copyright secured all rights reserved Shiny Geode Music, SESAC
10.
Hard It Goes 04:14
HARD IT GOES A bottle of wine Two tall beers A shot of bourbon To starve out the tears My baby’s gone Loneliness wearin’ thin Sittin alone starin at these walls Takin my medicine CHORUS: I should leave I suppose But I’d just be the drunk at the party That nobody knows So I stay home, seal up these windows For the long cold Love comes easy but hard it goes Charlie Rich on my radio Like he’s been right here the most beautiful girl in the world whisperin’ goodbye in my ear that clock up on my wall must be stuck in gear second hand must understand been tryin to move on all year REPEAT CHORUS Love comes easy but hard it goes Love comes easy but hard it goes My bloody thumb on the vine of a rose Cause love comes easy but hard it goes ~Stephen Simmons/Doug Waterman
11.
Just Like A Sad Song There's country crooners in Nashville Pour out their heart right up to last call They sing of lost love and pour souls Who've never known no love at all I've done my time I've done Eons Lost more love than I care to recall But here I am back at this ole dog track Bettin' on 7 just to win it all Chorus: Sometimes it's just like a sad song Sneaks up and grabs you from behind Like a ghost on the back of your saddle On a midnight ride Sometimes it's just like an old love whose been pushed down in the back of your mind Reappears to help you rhyme that one last line We all think it drives us crazy We all have our crosses to bear But I've never known a tale of love That everyone thought was fair So babe I'm at the end of this album The needles just about to run out Side One, Side two now they're both through Do you know what it was all about? Chorus So babe I'm at the end of this album The needles just about to run out Side One, Side two now they're both through Do you know what it was all about? Words and music by Stephen Simmons ©copyright secured all rights reserved Shiny Geode Music, SESAC

about

Playing around for fun late at night in the studio with my musician friends led to a semi regular thing we liked to call "Don Williams / Irish Whiskey Night"; where I'd bring in a bottle of Irish Whiskey, we'd put on some old vinyl Don Williams Country albums and get in the proper mood, then we'd all hop on an instrument and I'd pull out a new song that I wanted to record like the smooth sounding Country Albums I love so much. We'd play it 3 or 4 times live and then sit back listenin' and sippin'. At some point it turned into an album that I knew I had to finish and release someday. This is how it turned out:

1. HEARSAY (3:34)
2. EMILY’S EYES ((3:38)
3. I'LL BE YOUR JOHNNY CASH (4:35)
4. THE BOOBIE BUNGALOW GENTLEMEN'S CLUB (4:31)
5. I AIN’T LONELY (I’M JUST LONESOME) (5:12)
6. GOLD & SILVER (3:35)
7. HORSE CAVE, KENTUCKY (4:02)
8. STARDUST (3:25)
9. SANTA CRUZ RIDGE (4:20)
10. HARD IT GOES (4:14)
11. JUST LIKE A SAD SONG (2:47)

credits

released July 28, 2013

Produced by: Stephen Simmons
Recorded and Mixed by: Eric Fritsch
at Eastwood Studios, Nashville, TN
Mastered by Alex McCollough
at Yes Master, Nashville, TN
Artwork and design by: Monika Umba

All songs written by Stephen Simmons
Published by Shiny Geode Music, SESAC
except GOLD & SILVER : by Stephen Simmons / Liz Foster
and HARD IT GOES: by Stephen Simmons / Doug Waterman
C & P 2013 Locke Creek Records

Stephen Simmons: vocals, acoustic guitars (tracks 1-11)
Eric Fritsch: electric guitars on (tracks 6, 7, 9, 10): bass (track 2 ): b-3 (tracks 1, 5)
Alex McCollough: pedal steel guitar (tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
Dave Coleman: electric guitar (tracks 3, 4, 8) two tone guitar (track 11)
Jen Gunderman: b-3 (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11): piano (tracks 3, 5, 8, 10): harmony vocals (tracks 5, 6, 10)
Marty Lynds: drums & percussion (tracks 1-11)
Tim Marks: bass (tracks 1, 3-11)

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Stephen Simmons Nashville, Tennessee

Stephen Simmons was raised in the small town of Woodbury, Tennessee. As a songwriter and Ten years as a Road Dog, Stephen’s vision has grown to entail more than just reflections of rural America. Stephen’s records (which were compared to everyone from Johnny Cash to Ryan Adams) combine virtuosic songcraft and musicianship with unparalleled artistic honesty. ... more

shows

contact / help

Contact Stephen Simmons

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this album or account

Stephen Simmons recommends:

If you like Stephen Simmons, you may also like: